The native use of peyote, however, involves of course the whole series
of alkaloids, and we must discuss the physiological effect of pan-peyotl
preparations. Since antagonistic alkaloids are at work, it is not
surprising to find several stages of physiological action with the whole
plant. Dixon writes:[7]
The action may be divided into a preliminary stage and a stage
of intoxication. In the former there is excitement, a feeling
of exhilaration, and diminished kinaesthetic sensations,
performances involving effort being hardly noticed; the face
is flushed, and the pupils dilated; there is a tendency to
talkativeness, which may become wandering later, when the
patient begins to feel “lightheaded.”
This stage quickly passes away, and is followed by one of
intoxication, in which there is a great inclination to lie
down, although there is never any tendency to sleep. The
pupils are now widely dilated, but act sluggishly to light.
On attempting to walk, the gait closely resembles that in
alcoholic intoxication, and in all bodily movements requiring
precision, the incoördination is evident. The body is generally
in a tremulous condition, the tremors showing well when the
attention is fixed on anything held in the hand. Reflexes over
the whole body are much increased, including the skin reflexes,
although there is considerable blunting of painful and tactile
sensation. Twitching of muscles occurs in various parts of the
body, especially noticeable in the face, and there is a curious
feeling as if the face, lips, tongue, etc., were much swollen.
As in _cannabis indica_, time is over-estimated, possibly as a
result of the rapid flow of ideas[8] and the inability to fix
the attention. Perception of space is also modified,[9] on one
occasion giving the impression that the ground sloped away in
all directions.
Perception may be considerably delayed; for example, one
may look at a person one knows well, and it is only after
scanning his features for what appears to the experimenter
a considerable time, that recognition occurs;[10] it is
possible, however, that this may be explained by the increased
time-relation. The attention cannot be fixed, as the least
stimulus is sufficient to alter the train of thought; thus it
was found impossible to fix the attention on a book, and a
subsequent examination of notes attempted during intoxication
showed incoördination both as regards language and writing.
On two occasions when deeply under the influence of the drug,
there was an indescribable feeling of dual existence; thus
after sitting with closed eyes subjectively examining the color
visions, on suddenly opening them for a brief space one seems
to be a different self, as on waking from a dream we pass into
a different world from that in which we have been. This may be
to some extent comparable to the rhythmical rise and fall of
the “physical waves” in Indian hemp intoxication.[11]
But by far the most remarkable of these subjective phenomena
are the sensory hallucinations,[12] especially visual. These
arise gradually, and are at first only seen with closed
eyes.... The visions rapidly become more marked, until on
closing the eyes a regular kaleidoscopic play of colours can be
seen with either eye, precisely the same; hence the condition
must be central.
These colours may assume all kinds of fantastic shapes; they
are never still, but constantly in motion, sometimes in a
circular or to-and-fro manner, but more generally there
is a kind of pulsation somewhat similar to that in the
cinematograph.[13]
Both native visions and white observations testify abundantly to the
phenomena of synaesthesis, or the perception of the data of one sense in
terms of another. Rouhier figures a painting made by an experimenter in
which the sound of a bell is seen as a surréaliste aggregate of flowing,
pulsating lines; and a subject of Havelock Ellis had a “curious sensation
of tasting colors.” Crichtly mentions a color-taste synaesthesia
also.[14] All these phenomena are physiological constants, as indicated
by comparison of native visions with white experimenters’ observations.
After visual hallucinations far the commonest are auditory ones. The
writer, with a number of other observers, has noted the preternatural
resonance, hollowness, discreteness and far-away quality of one’s own
voice; if vocal disfunction were involved one would expect a raising of
pitch here, hence it is probably auditory. On this point Dixon bears
critical evidence:[15]
The whole effect of the sound of the piano was most curious
and delightful, the whole air being filled with music, each
note of which seemed to arrange itself around a medley of
other notes which appeared to me to be surrounded by a halo of
colour pulsating to the music. Nasal hyperaesthesia was also
present, though less evident than either the visual or auditory
phenomena.