We are using Gerard’s term “psychotomimetics” generically for compounds that have been called schizogens, psychotica, psychotogens, phantastica, hallucinogens, and elixirs. If one believes that the importance of these compounds lies in their capacity to mimic the mental illnesses called psychoses, psychotomimetics would be the term of choice. This capacity alone would make these drugs the focus of psychopharmacological inquiry, but this capacity is not their only, nor even, perhaps, their most important quality. It is but recently that the relationship between psychotomimetics and schizophrenia has become somewhat clearer. This paper is published with the approval of the Saskatchewan Committee for Schizophrenia Research using funds provided by the National Department of Health and Welfare, Ottawa, Ontario; Psychiatric Service; Branch, Department of Public Health, the Provincial Government of Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan; and
The Rockefeller Foundation, New York, N. Y.