"Witches and their use of poisonous and narcotic plants are subjects that have aroused tremendous interest throughout the centuries. How much was there (and is there) to it all? How great was their knowledge of the mysterious powers of the plants? Could witches fly after rubbing themselves with magic ointments? The recent upsurge in the study of hallucinogenic plants has helped focus scientific attention on witchcraft, sorcery, prophecy, divination, and other magical practices. Investigations of hallucinogenic and other psychoactive plants have transcended the limited fields of history and the social sciences. The potential of some of the active principles in these plants as tools in experimental psychology or even in psychiatry, and the extraordinary new vistas which their investigation has opened up in phytochemistry, have fascinated contemporary research specialists. This book renders a commendable service by adding to our modern library of works on hallucinogens and poisons, a readable, balanced, well-documented study on a special phase of their history and significance."--Back cover.