Study and Stimulants

Study and Stimulants

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Title: Study and Stimulants
Author: A. Arthur Reade
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STUDY AND STIMULANTS;

OR,
THE USE OF INTOXICANTS AND NARCOTICS IN RELATION
TO INTELLECTUAL LIFE,
AS ILLUSTRATED BY PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS ON THE
SUBJECT, FROM MEN OF LETTERS AND OF SCIENCE.

EDITED BY A. ARTHUR READE.

INTRODUCTION.
The real influence of the intoxicants and narcotics in common use has
been a matter of fierce and prolonged controversy. The most opposite
opinions have been set forth with ability and earnestness; but the
weight they would otherwise carry is lessened by their mutually
contradictor-y character. Notwithstanding the great influence of the
physician's authority, people are perplexed by the blessings and
bannings bestowed upon tobacco and the various forms of alcohol.
What is the real influence of stimulants and narcotics upon the brain?
Do they give increased strength, greater lucidity of mind and more
continuous power? Do they weaken and cloud the intellect, and lessen
that capacity for enduring a prolonged strain of mental exertion which
is one of the first requisites of the intellectual life? Would a man who is
about to enter upon the consideration of problems, the correct solution

of which will demand all the strength and agility of his mind, be helped
or hindered by their use? These are questions which are asked every
day, and especially by the young, who seek in vain for an adequate
reply. The student grappling with the early difficulties of science and
literature, wishes to know whether he will be wiser to use or to abstain
from stimulants.
The theoretical aspect of the question has perhaps been sufficiently
discussed; but there still remains the practical inquiry,--"What has been
the experience of those engaged in intellectual work?" Have men of
science--the inventors, the statesmen, the essayists, and novelists of our
own day--found advantage or the reverse in the use of alcohol and
tobacco?
The problem has for years exercised my thoughts, and with the hope of
arriving at data which would be trustworthy and decisive, I entered
upon an independent inquiry among the representatives of literature,
science, and art, in Europe and America. The replies were not only
numerous, but in most cases covered wider ground than that originally
contemplated. Many of the writers give details of their habits of work,
and thus, in addition to the value of the testimony on this special topic,
the letters throw great light upon the methods of the intellectual life.
To each writer, and especially to Dr. Alex. Bain, Mr. R. E. Francillon,
Mark Twain, Mr. E. O'Donovan, Mr. J E. Boehm, Professor Dowden,
the Rev. Dr. Martineau, Count Gubernatis, the Abbe Moigno, and
Professor Magnus, who have shown hearty interest in the enquiry, I
tender my best thanks for contributing to the solution of the important
problem of the value of stimulants; also to Mr. W. E. A. Axon for
suggestive and much appreciated help. I should, however, be glad of
further testimonies for use in a second edition.
_January_, 1883.

CONTENTS.
I. Introduction
II. LETTERS FROM:
Abbot, The Rev. Dr.
Allibone, Mr. S. Astin
Argyll, The Duke of, F. R. S.
Arnold, Mr. Matthew

Ayrton, Professor
Bain, Dr. Alexander
Ball, Professor Robert S., LL. D., F. R. S.
Bancroft, Mr. Hubert Howe
Baxendell, Mr. Joseph, F. R. A. S.
Beard, Dr. G. M.
Bert, Professor Paul
Blackie, Professor John Stuart
Blanc, M. Louis
Boehm, Mr. J. E., R. A.
Bredencamp, Dr.
Brown, Mr. Ford Madox, R. A.
Buchanan, Mr. Robert
Buddenseig, Dr.
Burnaby, Captain Fred
Butler, Lieut.