What was acid created for

Follow David Biello on Twitter. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. As a boy walking in the forest near his home, Hofmann had a vivid moment which he became enchanted by the natural world. Homann first synthesized LSD in , while he was working as a research chemist at Sandoz Laboratories.

The company was big in the chemical business back then, responsible for inventing substances like saccharin. At Sandoz, he was tasked with working with medicinal plants to isolate, purify and synthesize their active compounds for pharmaceuticals. His studies of ergot, a rye fungus, and its various active compounds, led to the creation of several lysergic acid compounds, and his 25th attempt was aptly named LSD Five years passed, and LSD sat on the shelf.

On a hunch, he re-synthesized it on April 16th, In the lab that day, he accidentally absorbed around 20 micrograms of LSD in his skin and recorded in his journal that he had a remarkable experience, one he could only connect to the substance. The day moved fast, and his journal marked the shifts. He dosed himself at pm; diluting the micrograms of crystal in 10cc water and noted it was tasteless.

Two days later he added that his trip had been most intense from six to eight p. I also had the sensation of being unable to move from the spot.

Nevertheless, my assistant later told me that we had traveled very rapidly. Finally, we arrived at home safe and sound, and I was just barely capable of asking my companion to summon our family doctor and request milk from the neighbors. The powerful effects were as frightening as they had been unexpected. Hofmann had no idea how the experience might play out in the next few hours, and beyond.

For all he knew, the drug might permanently damage his psyche. Perhaps it might even physically injure or kill him. These fears were what prompted him to request the milk, a nonspecific palliative for a range of toxic substances.

The hubris of what he had done in testing this potent drug on himself filled him with anxiety and regret. He would only realize later how important that fearful mind-set would be in shaping the nature of his experience, which he described compellingly in his book:.

The dizziness and sensation of fainting became so strong at times that I could no longer hold myself erect, and had to lie down on a sofa … Everything in the room spun around, and the familiar objects and pieces of furniture assumed grotesque, threatening forms. They were in continuous motion, animated, as if driven by an inner relentlessness.

The lady next door, whom I scarcely recognized, brought me milk—in the course of the evening I drank more than two liters. She was no longer Mrs. R, but rather a malevolent, insidious witch with a colored mask … Every exertion of my will, every attempt to put an end to the disintegration of the outer world and the dissolution of my ego, seemed to be a wasted effort.

A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind, and soul … I was seized by the dreadful fear of going insane. I was taken to another world, another place, another time.

My body seemed to be without sensation, lifeless, strange. Was I dying? In fact, when the doctor arrived, he detected nothing more alarming that dilated pupils. Blood pressure, respiration, pulse were all completely normal. The doctor left his bag shut: No medications were required. He simply put Hofmann to bed and waited by his side. Hofmann began to come to himself. The horror softened and gave way to a feeling of good fortune and gratitude, the more normal perceptions and thoughts returned, and I became more confident that the danger of insanity was conclusively past.

Now, little by little, I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me …. By the time his wife arrived home, Hofmann was able to speak coherently about what happened to him. The next morning he wrote:. Everything glistened and sparkled in a fresh light.