The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 266 No 7153 p838
June 23, 2001

Midsummer madness
Cocaine problem
Image of chemistry

Midsummer madness

The summer solstice, by the reckoning of astronomers, occurs on June 21, when the sun reaches the northernmost position in the ecliptic. This has not prevented the creators of European tradition from designating June 24 as Midsummer Day and June 23 as Midsummer Eve, the feast of St John the Baptist and its eve, respectively.

Folklore in England prescribed the lighting of bonfires, organisation of processions, and sundry divinatory performances during that night when days began to grow shorter and winter loomed. It is possible that the celebrations were derived from mainland Europe, since the earliest record is attributed to a Shropshire monk, John Mirk, writing in the 14th century and apparently quoting from a Continental author. Mirk derived the word “bonfire” from “bone-fire”, but there is some doubt whether the ceremonial burning of cattle and sheep bones was really an original idea. John Stowe in 1603 opted for “bon”, meaning beneficial, rather than “bone”. Other titles such as balefire, banfire and banefire, were also used in different places. As we have seen during the foot and mouth epidemic, fire is almost superstitiously regarded as a prime purifying influence and deliverance from evil forces.

The influence of midsummer features on diabolical threats was referred to by Stowe when he mentioned that it was held that the Devil could not approach within nine paces of anyone who carried a sprig of hypericum, St John’s wort. And Robert Burton, author of the ‘Anatomy of melancholy’, wrote in 1621 that a plant of St John’s wort, gathered on a Friday and hung round the neck, relieved melancholy and drove away disturbing fantasies. In the Western Isles of Scotland, wrote Martin Martin in 1703, a certain John Morison of Harris wore a sprig of hypericum, called also Fuga Demonum, sewn into his coat collar to prevent his seeing disturbing visions. And in north Wales in 1800, and in many other places, sprigs of the plant were fixed over the doors of the home to scare away evil spirits in midsummer.

There were other ceremonies associated with midsummer. Sometimes there were midnight searches for a mysterious fragment of coal to be found among the roots of plantains and mugwort, supposed to protect against plagues, fevers and other diseases. John Aubrey, walking in a pasture at midnight in 1696, came across more than 20 young women crawling on their knees and digging up plantain roots in search of the mysterious coals which, placed under their pillow, would enable them to dream of their future husbands. Even more bizarre was the collection of “fern-seed” at midnight of the feast of St John, when it was supposed to become visible. Anyone who could catch the mystic seed in a pewter plate rendered himself invisible while carrying it, and would gain the affection of a fancied lover. Moreover, if someone walked through a fern brake at midnight and happened to collect the fern-seed in his shoes, he would also become invisible. What the advantage of this situation was, except perhaps to a thief or intending murderer, is uncertain.

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Cocaine problem

Withdrawal of cocaine from someone who has become dependent is notoriously difficult. Much research has been performed on the effects of the alkaloid on the brain. As a commentary published in Science for May 11 makes clear, the stimulatory effect of cocaine on mental state is mediated by a different brain area from that concerned with establishing craving for the drug when a programme of withdrawal is attempted. It is believed, on evidence derived from rats, that craving for cocaine is induced by a mechanism connected with glutamate rather than dopamine, in a different area of the hippocampus.

Human cocaine abusers who become dependent are tempted to relapse, when they attempt to do without the drug, through a number of emotional, social or visual triggers that recall to memory the pleasurable sensation of being “high” on cocaine. Stimulation of the glutamate-rich area of the hippocampus known as the ventral subiculum reinforces the craving, whereas stimulation of the adjacent dopamine-rich area does not. Thus, addiction to cocaine may involve not only a direct dopaminic effect but also activation of a stored memory area also located in the hippocampus. Nevertheless, treatment with propranolol, which reduces the element of anxiety, is of some use in diminishing the distress caused by cocaine withdrawal, and, according to a note in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) for May 16, may encourage a patient to persist with the withdrawal programme prescribed.

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Image of chemistry

There seems to be no lack of comments in the scientific journals concerning the delicate relationship between science and the unscientific citizen.

An editorial published in Nature for May 24 asserts that chemistry suffers from multiple image problems. Its very versatility makes it almost impossible for the lay person to hold any sympathy with it. What, indeed, is chemistry, asks the commentator.

As a subject of study chemistry is no longer simply divisible into organic, inorganic and physical, as in the old academic scheme of things. Recent research into small molecules of genetic significance, screening of new chemicals by combinatorial methods, and newly devised analytical techniques have involved chemistry pure and simple with almost every other discipline of science, particularly biology.

The outcome of this expansion is that from the outside chemistry is often misjudged and those engaged in it are often misunderstood and under-appreciated. It is not without significance that the American Chemical Society alone recognises more than 30 sections of the discipline. While outsiders are allowed to define what chemistry is and what it is not, chemists themselves have failed to add their voice. In the public mind chemistry is too often confused with the chemical industry, commonly visualised as “belching chimneys and poisoned rivers”, not life-saving medicines and materials for greater comfort in living. It is not a mature discipline with a basis of important and stimulating work behind it, but a promising prospect. It presents important challenges for sustainable energy production and pharmaceuticals tailored to adjust to the human genome sequence.

In order to progress, chemistry must attract the brightest young scientists emerging from universities, which means its image must be improved. “And basic chemistry research in universities is being overshadowed by the continued growth in support for biology.”

Why biology should have become more attractive than chemistry is not clear. The truth may well be that chemists are too modest for their own cause. “If that’s true, chemists should stop hiding their Bunsen burners under bushels.” However, chemical societies in Germany, Britain and the United States are doing their best at the moment to acknowledge the changing face of their discipline — it is to be hoped with success.

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