Study and Stimulants E-Book

Various

• Herausgeber: Science & Technology Publishing
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 192

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Study and Stimulants: Or, the Use of Intoxicants and Narcotics in Relation to Intellectual Life is a fascinating exploration of the complex relationship between mental exertion and the consumption of stimulants, intoxicants, and narcotics. Compiled and edited by A. Arthur Reade, this late 19th-century work gathers the opinions, experiences, and reflections of some of the most prominent intellectuals, writers, scientists, and artists of the era regarding the use of substances such as alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, opium, and other stimulants. Through a series of letters, essays, and anecdotes, the book delves into how these substances have influenced, aided, or hindered the creative and intellectual processes of its contributors. The book is structured as a collection of testimonies and observations, offering a unique window into the personal habits and philosophies of figures like Charles Darwin, Lord Tennyson, Sir Henry Thompson, and many others. Each contributor discusses their own experiences with stimulants and narcotics, providing candid insights into the perceived benefits and dangers of their use. Some praise the stimulating effects of coffee or tea on their mental faculties, while others warn of the perils of addiction and the detrimental impact of alcohol or opium on health and productivity. Beyond personal anecdotes, Study and Stimulants also examines the broader social and medical implications of substance use among intellectuals, considering questions of morality, health, and the pursuit of knowledge. The book reflects the attitudes and scientific understanding of its time, offering a historical perspective on debates that continue to resonate today. Rich in historical detail and intellectual curiosity, Study and Stimulants is both a valuable resource for those interested in the history of science, literature, and medicine, and a thought-provoking read for anyone curious about the interplay between mind, body, and the substances that have shaped human thought and creativity.

Leseprobe

Produced by Beth L. Constantine, David Moynihan, Charles Franks

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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. Col. W. F.

Burnton, Dr. Lauder, F. R. S.

Camp, Madame du

Carpenter, Dr. W. B., C. B., LL. D., F. R. S.

Chambers, Mr. William, LL. D

Childs, Mr. George W.

Claretie, M. Jules

Clarke, Mr. Hyde, F. S. S.

Collins, Mr. Wilkie

Conway, Mr. Moncure D., M. A.

Dallenger, Rev. W. H., F. R. S

Darwin, Professor

Dawkins, W. Boyd, M. A., F. R. S., F. G. S.

D'Orsey, The Rev. Alex. J. D., B. D.

O'Donovon, Mr. Edmund

Dowden, Professor, LL. D.

Edison, Professor

Ellis, Mr. Alex. J., F. R. S., F. S. A.

Everett, Professor

Fairbairn, Professor R. M.

Francillon, Mr. R. E.

Freeman, Mr. Edward A., D. C. L., LL. D.

Furnivall, Mr. F. J., M. A.

Gardiner, Mr. Samuel R., Hon. LL. D.

Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E., M. P.

Greville, Mdlle. II

Gubernatis, Count

Guenin, M. L. P.

Guy, Dr. William

Haeckel, Professor Ernst

Hamerton, Mr. Philip Gilbert

Hardy, Mr. Thomas

Harrison, Mr. Frederic

Henty, Mr. G. A.

Holmes, Mr. Oliver Wendell

Holyoake, Mr. George Jacob

Hooker, Sir J. D., F. R. S.

Howells, Mr. W. D.

Joule, Dr. J. P.

Lansdell, The Rev. Henry

Leathes, Rev. Stanley, D. D.

Lecky, W. E. H.

Lees, Dr. F. R.

Levi, Mr. Leone, F. S. A.

Lubbock, Sir John, Bart. M. P.

Magnus, Professor

Maitland, Mr. Edward, B. A.

Martin, Sir Theodore, K. C. B.

Martineau, The Rev. James, D. D.

Maudsley, Dr. Henry

May, Sir Thomas Erskine, K. C. B., D. C. L.

Mayor, Rev. John E. B., M. A.

Moigno, The Abbe

Morrison, Rev. J., D. D.

Mongredien, Mr. Augustus

Murray, Dr. J. A. H.

Murray, Mr. D. Christie.

Newman, Professor

Pattison, The Rev. Mark, B. D.

Payn, Mr. James

Pitman, Mr. Eizak

Plaute, M. Gaston

Plummer, The Rev. A.

Pocknell, Mr. Edward

Rawlinson, Professor George

Reade, Mr. Charles

Reed, Mr. Thomas Allen

Rodenberg, Dr. Julius

Russell, Dr. W. H.

Ruskin, Mr. John

Sen, Keshub Chunder

Simon, M. Jules

Skeat, Professor

St. Hilaire, M. Barthelemy

Spottiswoode, Mr. W., D. C. L., LL. D.

Siemens, Dr. C. W., D. C. L., F. R. S.

Smith, Mr. G. Barnett

Taine, M.

Trollope, Mr. Anthony

Thomson, Sir William, M. A., LL. D., D. C. L., F. R. S.

Trantmann, Professor

Tyndall, Professor, LL. D., F. R. S.

Tourgueneff, Mr. Ivan

Twain, Mark

Walford, Mr. Cornelius, F. S. S., F. I. A.

Watts, Mr. G. F., R. A.

Wilson, Professor Andrew, Ph. D., F. R. S. E.

Winser, Mr. Justin

Wurtz, M.

III. APPENDIX

TESTIMONIES OF:

Bennett, Dr. Risdon

Brooke, The Rev. Stopford A., M. A.

Bryant, William C.

Chambers, Dr. King

Fraser, Professor Thomas R.

Herkomer, Hubert, A. R. A.

Higginson, Colonel Thomas Wentworth

Howitt, William

Kingsley, The Rev. Charles

Martineau, Harriet

Miller, Professor

Proctor, Mr. R. A., F. R. S.

Richardson, Dr. B. W., F. R. S.

Sala, Mr. George Augustus

Temple, Bishop

Thompson, Sir Henry, F. R. C. S.

Williams, Mr. W. Mattieu, F. R. A. S., F. C. S.

Yeo, Dr. Bumey, M. D.

IV. CONCLUSION

STUDY AND STIMULANTS

THE REV. DR. ABBOT, EDITOR OF THE "CHRISTIAN UNION," NEW YORK.

I have no experience whatever respecting tobacco: my general opinion is adverse to its use by a healthy man; but that opinion is not founded on any personal experience, nor on any scientific knowledge, as to give it any value for others. My opinion respecting alcohol is that it is a valuable and necessary ingredient in forming and preserving some articles of diet—yeast bread, for example, which can only be produced by fermentation—and that its value in the lighter wines, those in which it is found in, a ratio of from 5 to 10 per cent., is of the same character. It preserves for use other elements in the juice of the grape. As a stimulant, alcohol is, in my opinion, at once a deadly poison and a valuable medicine, to be ranked with belladonna, arsenic, prussic acid, and other toxical agents, which can never be safely dispensed with by the medical faculty, nor safely used by laymen as a stimulant, except under medical advice. As to my experience, it is very limited; and, in my judgment, it is quite unsafe in this matter to make one man's experience another man's guide: too much depends upon temperamental and constitutional peculiarities, and upon special conditions of climate and the like.

1. I have no experience respecting distilled spirits; I regard them as highly dangerous, and have never used them except under medical advice, and then only in rare and serious cases of illness. 2. Beers and the lighter wines, if taken before mental work, always—in my experience—impair the working powers. They do not facilitate, but impede brain action. 3. After an exceptionally hard day's work, when the nervous power is exhausted, and the stomach is not able to digest and assimilate the food which the system needs, a glass of light wine, taken with the dinner, is a better aid to digestion than any other medicine that I know. To serve this purpose, its use—in my opinion— should be exceptional, not habitual: it is a medicine, not a beverage. 4. After nervous excitement in the evening, especially public speaking, a glass of light beer serves a useful purpose as a sedative, and ensures at times a good sleep, when without it the night would be one of imperfect sleep.

I must repeat that my experience is very limited; that in my judgment the cases which justify a man in so overtaxing his system that he requires a medicine to enable him to digest his dinner or enjoy his sleep must be rare; and that my own use of either wine or beer is very exceptional. Though I am not in strictness of speech a total abstinence man, I am ordinarily a water drinker.

LYMAN ABBOT. March 11, 1882.

MR. S. AUSTIN ALLIBONE, NEW YORK.

I have no doubt that the use of alcohol as a rule is very injurious to all persons—authors included. In about 17 years (1853-1870), in which I was engaged on the "Dictionary of English Literature and Authors," I never took it but for medicine, and very seldom. Moderate smoking after meals I think useful to those who use their brains much; and this seems to have been the opinion of the majority of the physicians who took part in the controversy in the Lancet about ten or twelve years since. An energetic non-smoker is in haste to rush to his work soon after dinner. A smoker is willing to rest (it should be for an hour), because he can enjoy his cigar, and his conscience is satisfied, which is a great thing for digestion; the brain is soothed also.

S. AUSTIN ALLIBONE. March 27, 1882.

THE DUKE OF ARGYLL, F. R. S.

In answer to your question, I can only say that during by far the greatest part of my life I never took alcohol in any form; and that only in recent years I have taken a small fixed quantity under medical advice, as a preventive of gout. Tobacco I have never touched.

ARGYLL. October 2, 1882.

MR. MATTHEW ARNOLD.

In reply to your enquiry, I have to inform you that I have never smoked, and have always drunk wine, chiefly claret. As to the use of wine, I can only speak for myself. Of course, there is the danger of excess; but a healthy nature and the power of self-control being presupposed, one can hardly do better, I should think, than "follow nature" as to what one drinks, and its times and quantity. As a general rule, I drink water in the middle of the day; and a glass or two of sherry, and some light claret, mixed with water, at a late dinner; and this seems to suit me very well. I have given up beer in the middle of the day, not because I experienced that it did not suit me, but because the doctor assured me that it was bad for rheumatism, from which I sometimes suffer. I suppose most young people could do as much without wine as with it. Real brain-work of itself, I think, upsets the worker, and makes him bilious; wine will not cure this, nor will abstaining from wine prevent it. But, in general, wine used in moderation seems to add to the agreeableness of life—for adults, at any rate; and whatever adds to the agreeableness of life adds to its resources and powers.

MATTHEW ARNOLD. November 4, 1882.

PROFESSOR AYRTON

Has no very definite opinions as to the effects of tobacco and alcohol upon the mind and health, but as he is not in the habit of either taking alcohol or of smoking, he cannot regard those habits as essential to mental exertion.

April 21, 1882.

DR. ALEXANDER BAIN, LORD RECTOR OF ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY.

I am interested in the fact that anyone is engaged in a thorough investigation of the action of stimulants. Although the subject falls under my own studies in some degree, I am a very indifferent testimony as far as concerns personal experience. On the action of tobacco, I am disqualified to speak, from never having used it. As to the other stimulants—alcohol and the tea group—I find abstinence essential to intellectual effort. They induce a false excitement, not compatible with severe application to problems of difficulty. They come in well enough at the end of the day as soothing, or cheering, and also as diverting the thoughts into other channels. In my early intercourse with my friend; Dr. Carpenter, when he was a strict teetotaler, he used to discredit the effect of alcohol in soothing the excitement of prolonged intellectual work. I have always considered, however, that there is something in it. Excess of tea I have good reason to deprecate; I take it only once a day. The difficulty that presses upon me on the whole subject is this:—In organic influences, you are not at liberty to lay down the law of concomitant variations without exception, or to affirm that what is bad in large quantities, is simply less bad when the quantity is small. There may be proportions not only innocuous, but beneficial; reasoning from the analogy of the action of many drugs which present the greatest opposition of effect in different quantities. I mean this—not with reference to the inutility for intellectual stimulation, in which I have a pretty clear opinion as regards myself—but as to the harmlessness in the long run, of the employment of stimulants for solace and pleasure when kept to what we call moderation. A friend of mine heard Thackeray say that he got some of his best thoughts when driving home from dining out, with his skin full of wine. That a man might get chance suggestions by the nervous excitement, I have no doubt; I speak of the serious work of composition. John Stuart Mill never used tobacco; I believe he had always a moderate quantity of wine to dinner. He frequently made the remark that he believed the giving up of wine would be apt to be followed by taking more food than was necessary, merely for the sake of stimulation. Assuming the use of stimulants after work to aid the subsidence of the brain, I can quite conceive that tobacco may operate in this way, as often averred; but I should have supposed that any single stimulant would be enough: as tobacco for those abstaining entirely from alcohol, and using little tea or coffee.

ALEXANDER BAIN. March 6, 1882.

PROFESSOR ROBERT S. BALL, LL. D., F. R. S., ANDREWS PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN, AND ROYAL ASTRONOMER OF IRELAND.

I fear my experience can be of little use to you. I have never smoked except once—when at school; I then got sick, and have never desired to smoke since. I have not paid particular attention to the subject, but I have never seen anything to make me believe that tobacco was of real use to intellectual workers. I have known of people being injured by smoking too much, but I never heard of anyone suffering from not smoking at all.

ROBERT S. BALL. February 13, 1882.

MR. HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT, SAN FRANCISCO.

In my opinion, some constitutions are benefited by a moderate use of tobacco and alcohol; others are not. But to touch these things is dangerous.

H. H. BANCROFT. May 6, 1882.

MR. JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F. R. A. S.

I fear that my experience of the results of the use of stimulants will not aid you much in your enquiry. Although I am not a professed teetotaler or anti-smoker, practically I may say I am one: and when I am engaged in literary work, scientific investigations, or long and complicated calculations, I never think of taking any stimulant to aid or refresh me, and I doubt whether it would be of any use to do so.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL. February 20, 1882.

DR. G. M. BEARD, FELLOW OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE.

In reply to your enquiries, I may say—first: I do not find that alcohol is so good a stimulant to thought as coffee, tea, opium, or tobacco. On myself alcohol has rather a benumbing and stupefying effect, whatever may be the dose employed; whereas, tobacco and opium, in moderate doses, tea, and especially coffee, as well as cocoa, have an effect precisely the reverse.

Secondly: there are many persons on whom alcohol in large or small doses has a stimulating effect on thought: they can speak and think better under its influence. The late Daniel Webster was accustomed to stimulate himself for his great speeches by the use of alcohol.

Thirdly: these stimulants and narcotics, according to the temperament of the person on whom they are used, have effects precisely opposite, either sedative or stimulating; while coffee makes some people sleepy, the majority of persons are made wakeful by it. Some are made very nervous by tobacco in the form of smoking, while on others it acts as a sedative, and induces sleep. General Grant once told me 'that, if disturbed during the night, or worried about anything so that he could not sleep, he could induce sleep by getting up and smoking a short time—a few whiffs, as I understood him, being sufficient.

If I were to judge by my own experience alone—which it is not fair to do—I should say that coffee is the best stimulant for mental work; next to that tobacco and quinine; but as I grow older, I observe that alcohol in reasonable doses is beginning to have a stimulating effect.

GEORGE M. BEARD. March 13, 1882.

PROFESSOR PAUL BERT.

My views on tobacco and alcohol, and their action on the health, may be summed up in the following four propositions:—

1.—Whole populations have attained to a high degree of civilization and prosperity without having known either tobacco or alcohol, therefore, these substances are neither necessary nor even useful to individuals as well as races.

2.—Very considerable quantities of these drugs, taken at a single dose, may cause death; smaller quantities stupefy, or kill more slowly. They are, therefore, poisons against which we must be on our guard.

3.—On the other hand, there are innumerable persons who drink alcoholic beverages, and smoke tobacco, without any detriment to their reason or their health. There is, therefore, no reason to forbid the use of these substances, while suitably regulating the quantity to be taken.

4.—The use of alcoholic liquors and of tobacco in feeble doses, affords to many persons very great satisfaction, and is altogether harmless and inoffensive.

We ought, therefore, to attach no stigma to their consumption, after having pointed out the danger of their abuse. In short, it is with alcohol and tobacco as with all the pleasures of this life—a question of degree.

As for myself, I never smoke, because I am not fond of tobacco: I very seldom drink alcoholic liquors, but I take wine to all my meals because I like it.

PAUL BERT. March 1, 1882.

PROFESSOR JOHN STUART BLACKIE.

My idea is, that work done under the influence of any kind of stimulants is unhealthy work, and tends to no good. I never use any kind of stimulant for intellectual work—only a glass of wine during dinner to sharpen the appetite. As to smoking generally, it is a vile and odious practice; but I do not know that, unless carried to excess, it is in any way unhealthy. Instead of stimulants, literary men should seek for aid in a pleasant variety of occupation, in intervals of perfect rest, in fresh air and exercise, and a cultivation of systematic moderation in all emotions and passions.

J. S. BLACKIE. February 9, 1882.

M. LOUIS BLANC.

In answer to your letter, I beg to tell you that I do not know by experience what may be the effects of tobacco and alcohol upon the mind and health, not having been in the habit of taking tobacco and drinking alcohol.

LOUIS BLANC. March 9, 1882.

MR. J. E. BOEHM, R. A.

It will give me great pleasure if I can in any way contribute to your so very interesting researches, and I shall be glad to know whether you have published anything on the subject you have questioned me on. I find vigorous exercise the first and most important stimulant to hard work. I get up in summer at six, in winter at seven, take an hour and a half's hard ride, afterwards a warm bath, a cold douche, and then breakfast. I work from ten to seven generally; but twice or thrice a week I have an additional exercise—an hour's fencing before dinner, which I take at 8 p.m. I take light claret or hock to my dinner, but never touch any wine or spirits at any other times, and eat meat only once in twenty-four hours. I find a small cup of coffee after luncheon very exhilarating. I smoke when hard at work—chiefly cigarettes. After a long sitting (as I do not smoke while working from nature), a cigarette is a soother for which I get a perfect craving. In the evening, or when I am in the country doing nothing, I scarcely smoke at all, and do not feel the want of it there; nor do I then take at evening dinner more than one or two glasses of wine, and I have observed that the same quantity which would make me feel giddy in the country when in full health and vigour, would not have the slightest effect on me when taken after a hard day's work. I also observed that I can work longer without fatigue when I have had my ride, than when for any reason I have to give it up. I have carried this mode of life on for nearly twenty years, and am well and feel young, though forty-eight. I never see any one from ten to three o'clock; after that I still work, but must often suffer interruption. I found that temperament and constitution are rarely, if ever, a legitimate excuse for departure from abstinence and sober habits. I have the conviction that in order to have the eye and the brain clear, you ought to make your skin act vigorously at least once in twenty-four hours.

J. E. BOEHM. February 20, 1882.

DR. BREDENCAMP, ERLANGEN.

In reply to your letter, I am accustomed to smoke. If I do not smoke, I cannot do my work properly; and it is quite impossible to do any work in the morning without smoking. Strong drink I do not need at all, but I drink two glasses of Bavarian beer, which contains very little alcohol.

E. BREDENCAMP. April 18, 1882.

MR. FORD MADOX BROWN, R. A.

I have smoked for upwards of thirty years, and have given up smoking for the last seven years. Almost all my life I have taken alcoholic liquors in moderation, but have also been a total abstainer for a short period. My experience is that neither course with either ingredient has anything to do with mental work as capacity for it; unless, indeed, we are to except the incapacity produced by excessive drinking, of which, however, I have no personal experience.

F. M. BROWN. Feb. 28, 1882.

MR. ROBERT BUCHANAN.