I have some skepticism about those results. Specifically, there are a number of Tropane alkaloids which are very close to cocaine and are present in other plants - especially nightshades (e.g., belladonna) - which were known to and used for various purposes by Europeans for a long time. Look at the resemblance with Atropine, Scopolamine, Hyoscyamine, all of which are found in belladonna which also contains Hygrine, indeed, Atropine is named after "Atropa belladonna". Does the hospital's pharmacopeia mention any nightshade plants or derivatives?
Consider, from "Exploring the History, Uses, and Dangers of Belladonna: Unveiling the Mysteries of the Deadly Nightshade" (Nikandish, 2024): " ... the Greeks valued the plant’s extracts for their analgesic and anesthetic properties that could be used in medical treatments (Javed et al., 2023). The plant was used in a similar capacity in ancient Rome and was later used for different purposes during the Italian Renaissance."
Previous similar studies (some mentioned in the article) claimed to find cocaine in Egyptian mummies, and these were dismissed as probably being due to 'environmental contamination' in the laboratory, somehow, maybe. But another possibility is that those researchers ran a tight ship and did indeed pick up tropanes, but slightly different ones, from different plants.
That being said, I believe the ecgonine methyl ester, if actually present, is much more indicative of coca than tropanes from other plants. However, my hunch is that the fragmentation and retention time profiles of those other tropanes looks very similar because of the extra carbons and hydroxy group, not to mention the kind of reactions and rearrangements that can happen to those cyclic chemicals during whatever process mummified those tissues and during subsequent conditions over such a long period of time.
The fact that the article does not even mention nightshade tropanes or try to demonstrate why this possibility can be excluded also raises my level of suspicion.
So nice to have a Res Obscura post in my inbox this morning! Welcome back from doing something more important and harder than delighting readers interested doing history.
I have some skepticism about those results. Specifically, there are a number of Tropane alkaloids which are very close to cocaine and are present in other plants - especially nightshades (e.g., belladonna) - which were known to and used for various purposes by Europeans for a long time. Look at the resemblance with Atropine, Scopolamine, Hyoscyamine, all of which are found in belladonna which also contains Hygrine, indeed, Atropine is named after "Atropa belladonna". Does the hospital's pharmacopeia mention any nightshade plants or derivatives?
Consider, from "Exploring the History, Uses, and Dangers of Belladonna: Unveiling the Mysteries of the Deadly Nightshade" (Nikandish, 2024): " ... the Greeks valued the plant’s extracts for their analgesic and anesthetic properties that could be used in medical treatments (Javed et al., 2023). The plant was used in a similar capacity in ancient Rome and was later used for different purposes during the Italian Renaissance."
Previous similar studies (some mentioned in the article) claimed to find cocaine in Egyptian mummies, and these were dismissed as probably being due to 'environmental contamination' in the laboratory, somehow, maybe. But another possibility is that those researchers ran a tight ship and did indeed pick up tropanes, but slightly different ones, from different plants.
That being said, I believe the ecgonine methyl ester, if actually present, is much more indicative of coca than tropanes from other plants. However, my hunch is that the fragmentation and retention time profiles of those other tropanes looks very similar because of the extra carbons and hydroxy group, not to mention the kind of reactions and rearrangements that can happen to those cyclic chemicals during whatever process mummified those tissues and during subsequent conditions over such a long period of time.
The fact that the article does not even mention nightshade tropanes or try to demonstrate why this possibility can be excluded also raises my level of suspicion.
Great piece, thank you. David Courtwright has always been a favourite historian of mine.
So nice to have a Res Obscura post in my inbox this morning! Welcome back from doing something more important and harder than delighting readers interested doing history.