However, in these documents there were no indications for plans to develop an appetite suppressant. MDMA was mentioned only casually and without being called ‘MDMA’. In the patent specification, MDMA appeared only as a chemical formula and in the annual report it was referred to as ‘Methylsafrylamin’. The accurate back- ground for the first synthesis of MDMA was that Merck wanted to find and patent pathways leading to haemo- static substances, not appetite suppressors. The company tried to evade an existing patent for the synthesis of a clot- ting agent called ‘Hydrastinin’ held by the German com- petitor Farbenfabriken Elberfeld und Decker or Bayer/ Elberfeld, as stated explicitly by the head of Merck’s labo- ratory, Dr Walter Beckh (1870–1915) in the Annual Report for 1912.
― streeps of range (wins), Sunday, 10 September 2017 08:49 (six years ago) link
A good thoughtful, and open, thread. Particularly enjoyed this description of the human condition:
Well, it did make a difference to us, but without making a difference in us. Not even birth is a greater breach of promise. The world is the same dismal day-to-day wake-to-work regimen, the same work-to-eat, eat-to-shit cycle, the same sleep-to-dream routine, sharing in order to quarrel over the cut, the same old same it was before...
― Luna Schlosser, Sunday, 10 September 2017 12:23 (six years ago) link
That's a passage from the tunnel by William Gass, he is writing about ecstasy (not the substance) but I guess I thought it was fitting
― streeps of range (wins), Sunday, 10 September 2017 12:35 (six years ago) link