_Note to the Reprint Edition_ In the twenty years since the original publication of this book, studies of peyotism have continued to appear, until there are at present over one thousand bibliographic items on the ethnography of peyotism and related subjects. The author has summarized recent studies in an extended review of “Twenty Years of Peyote Studies,” which is in press for appearance in an early issue of _Current Anthropology_. Readers interested in following two decades of developments in peyotism may wish to be referred to this publication. CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE 3 INTRODUCTION 7 BOTANICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PEYOTE 10 Botany 10 Ethnobotany 11 Names for peyote 14 Etymology of “peyotl” 16 Identification of peyote 17 Physiology of Peyote Intoxication 17 THE ETHNOLOGY OF PEYOTISM 23 Non-ritual Uses of Peyote 23 Ritual Uses of Peyotl 29 Huichol 30 Tarahumari 33 Comparison of Mexican peyote rituals 35 Mescalero Apache and transitional forms of ritual 40 Kiowa-Comanche type rite 43 Comparison of Mexican, transitional, and Plains peyotism 54 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PLAINS PEYOTISM 57 PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PEYOTISM 93 HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONS 105 The Pre-peyote Mescal Bean Cult 105 History of the Diffusion of Peyotism 109 APPENDIX 1: Peyote in Mexico 124 APPENDIX 2: Peyote and the Mescal Bean 126 APPENDIX 3: Peyote and Teo-nanacatl 128 APPENDIX 4: “Plant Worship” in Mexico and the United States 131 APPENDIX 5: Chemistry of Peyote 138 APPENDIX 6: Physiology of Peyote 139 APPENDIX 7: John Wilson, the Revealer of Peyote 151 APPENDIX 8: Christian Elements in the Peyote Cult 162