“Kava is at first stimulating, but the effect of an excess resembles that of opium, producing a drowsy drunkenness, lasting for two hours. The inebriate is usually peaceable, but sometimes is irritated by noises, which is attributed by natives to the use of kava grown in moist ground. The results of excess are skin disease, emaciation, and general decrepitude. The peculiar whiteness of the skin caused by kava drinking is said to be sought after in some islands as a sign that its possessor is wealthy enough to devote his time to its acquirement. “There is some misapprehension in regard to whether the liquid undergoes fermentation before it is consumed, but it is positively known that there can be no fermentation, for the liquor is drunk immediately after the addition of water to the macerated root. Kava that is prepared by chewing is said to be more palatable, which is perhaps due to the conversion of the starch into a fermentable substance by the ptyalin of the saliva.”[1] [1]—By Walter Hough—Reprinted from Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections—No. 1472—August 1904. “Kava Drinking as Practised by the Papuans and Polynesians.” “In 1779 Captain King, R. N., who followed Captain Cook to the Islands, describes the case of a priest as follows ‘a little old man of an emaciated figure, his eyes exceedingly sore and red, and his body covered with a white leprous scurf, the effects of an immoderate use of ava.’ He also says, ‘The chiefs suffer dreadful effects from the immoderate use of ava. Those who are most affected by it had their bodies covered with a white scurf, their eyes red and inflamed, their limbs emaciated, their whole frame trembling and accompanied with a disability to raise the head.’”[2] [2] “Leprosy Prize Essays,” 2nd series by Thompson and Cantile, 1897. F. A. Griel, makes the following statement in a foot note. “The mixture is a subnarcotic, and if drunk by European sailors produces highly nauseous effects. If frequently taken a dry burning heat is produced all over the body, the eyes become red, skin peels off in flakes and then degenerates into leprous ulcers or the whole body becomes emaciated and wastes away.”[3] [3] Miquel, Systema Piperacearum. Numerous attempts have been made to isolate the active chemical constituent or constituents. As early as 1844 Morson discovered an active principal _Kawine_. This is a greenish-yellow, strongly aromatic and acrid resin. This was again studied by Cuzant in 1860.