Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 51 — page 106: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION Materials may take on the texture of the finest cloths. Dirt or grubbiness disappear and new beauties are dis- covered in the shabbiest of clothes. It is not unusual for the person under the influence of mescalin to spend long periods in just looking. They explain that the visual ex- perience is such that they feel they have never ‘“‘seen’’ pre- viously. Mr. Huxley tells how he spent a long period in the contemplation of his own trouser legs. Such an action to the normal mind is not poss- ible for rational explanation and the discoveries which people have made under mes- calin is sufficient to under- stand the significance of the Indian custom of taking the drug for religious ceremonies. These heightened observa- tions are also sometimes ac- companied by the condition known as synesthesia. Thus another patient says that the banging of a workman’s ham- mer was accompanied by the appearance of coloured “splashes” which coincided with the noise. This example is probably the most vivid of those mentioned in the literature. SARDONIC HUMOUR Last of the major reactions 105 to mescaline is the modifica- tion of mood and humour. Sardonic ideas give rise to humour and the appearance of a large, modern automobile is sufficient to rouse intense laughter. The subject explains the matter in such a way that to him, the seeming self im- portance of the motor car, with its chromium, modernis- tic curves and so on appears ridiculous. These reactions are interest- ing and do not appear on the whole to be unpleasant. The intensification of colour and the appearance of a few flowers for example gives exceptional interest to this one sense. The distortions of time and space no doubt also prove fascinating, which all combine to give the subject a new fascination in his existence. But, and this must be under- lined, the reactions are not identical and are controlled by a series of variables. Per- sonality is a major factor, but the list includes cultural set- ting ofthe subject, age, dosage, the areas of the brain in- fluenced by the drug and so on. It has been suggested that mescalin could replace the tobacco plant in the favours of this characteristic of the comiclooks.cormn