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Piper methysticum Forst. (family Piperaceae) is a shrub common to the islands of Polynesia, where it is known in various dialects as Kawa, Kava or Ava. The root of the kawa plant has been held in high esteem by the Polynesians from ancient times for its use in preparing an extract which, upon drinking, is reported to reduce fatigue and produce complete freedom from anxiety.1The remarkable physiological action of Piper methysticum has prompted numerous chemical investigations, dating from that of Gobley and O'Robke in 1850.2 The most extensive work on the constituents of this plant was carried out by Bobsche3 and his co-workers, who, in a series of 13 papers, reported the isolation and structure of two new compounds, kawain (I)4 and dihydrokawain (II),4 and the structural elucidation of the other crystalline components, methysticin (III),5 dihydromethysticin (IV)6-8' b and yangonin (V),7 which had previously been isolated from this

Since R. Glénard (7), in 1911, discovered the "catalatic" and "peroxidatic" properties of the mineral waters of Vichy (France), a whole series of papers have been published about them. The work of Baudisch and Davidson (2) on the mineral waters of Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1927, gave a new impetus to these investigations. The assumption by these authors that the iron in these waters exists in an "active," probably

Trimethoxybenzoyl-glycine-diethylamide induced in dogs and cats normal sleep without preceding ataxia. A five- to ten-fold increase of the soporific dose resulted in restlessness and disorientation instead of sleep. In man, oral doses of 500 to 1500 mg caused sedation or drowsiness, or both, in half the cases. No spindling or drug-induced artifacts were found in electroencephalographic recordings.

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