Guru of LSD, 93, raves on

TIME STOOD still for a moment at the "Time Machine" dance party in the Dutch capital last weekend. Suddenly 93-year-old Dr Albert Hofmann entered the dance floor of Milkyway nightclub in Amsterdam, holding hands with two young women. The Swiss chemist and pharmacologist devoted himself to intense techno dancing for 15 minutes, without interruption.

Fellow ravers were forced to take time out from their own gyrations and gawp at the surprisingly fit man, who discovered LSD after accidentally ingesting it 55 years ago.

In the Sixties and Seventies Dr Hofmann became one of the leading figures of the "psychedelic movement".

After his dance performance on Saturday night in Amsterdam, he was approached by admirers from all over the world, many of them young enough to be his great grandchildren. Most were attending an international conference called "Conscious Dreams", which focused on the role of psychedelic drugs in art, science and therapy.

He was the surprise guest at the four-day conference of 500 people all sharing an interest in such substances as LSD, mescalin and "magic" mushrooms.