Plant Intoxicants: A Classic Text on the Use of Mind-Altering Plants

by Ernst von Bibra

This pioneering study of psychoactive plants and their role in society, initially published in 1855, is one of the first books to examine the cultivation, preparation, and consumption of the world’s major stimulants and inebriants. It presents a fascinating panorama of the world-wide use of psychoactive plants in the nineteenth century.

Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

About the author

German naturalist and author.

Reviews

[Tomáš Kovačík]

One of the first ethno- botany, pharmacology, whatever studies ever written, by an German aristocrat, himself being a 1848 set of revolutions political émigré and, hence, traveller/ethnographer in mainly South America. And one of the name on the Plants of the Gods bibliography, which itself is supposed to be the best ethnobotanical monographs. So here You have the reasons for collecting and reading this green little gem, neatly summarized.

[Arturo Pacheco]

Dated, but fascinating text for students of psychopharmacology and ethnobotany.

[Joe Sabet]

A pleasant read. A tad outdated though. For example, he says several times that coffee and tea slow down your metabolism but this is false based on today's science. His descriptions of plants, seeds, chemistry experiments, etc, is very detailed but quite a bore. I'd prefer much more of his opinion, which is seldom encountered. I'd not recommend it unless one had a deep interest in the subject matter