AbstractThis paper investigates the supposedly psychedelicBufotoad and the allegedly psychedelic drug bufotenine, which is contained in the skin and glands of this toad. TheBufotoad has held a place in human mythologies and medicines worldwide since archaic times. Used by ancient peoples for a variety of purposes, its most spectacular effects, according to lore, involve magical and shamanic or occult uses for casting spells and for divination. In the Middle Ages, theBufotoad was celebrated as a panacea and persecuted as a powerful poison. More recently, in the 1960s theBufotoad was resurrected as a countercultural icon, with people purportedly licking or smoking the secretions to get high. Bufotenine has been at the center of a scientific debate since its discovery in 1893. This paper examines the extensive literature surrounding theBufotoad and bufotenine, and untangles many of the myths and the misinformation that continue to vex both science and popular reporting. Finally, to promote further investigation, a comprehensive bibliography is provided that charts the history of theBufotoad and bufotenine.