But the
use of alcoholic stimulants at work is one thing; at dinner, another.
The former practice is absolutely injurious; and the highest medical
authorities have pronounced against the latter. Some of the most
vigorous thinkers and laborious workers, however, find that wine aids
digestion and conduces to their power of work. To Mr. Gladstone it is
"especially necessary at the time of greatest intellectual exertion."
As a rule, it is taken at the end of the day, when work is over; but
when he resumes literary composition the quality of a writer's work
seems deteriorated. One of the most esteemed novelists of the present
day informs Dr. Brunton that, although he can take a great deal of
wine without its having any apparent effect on him, yet a single glass
of sherry is enough to take the fine edge off his intellect. He is
able to write easily and fluently in the evening, after taking dinner
and wine, but what he then writes will not bear his own criticism next
morning, although curiously enough it may seem to him excellent at the
time of writing. The perception of the fingers, as well as the
perception of the mind, seems blunted by the use of alcohol. Dr.
Alfred Carpenter relates that a celebrated violin player, as he was
about to go on the platform, was asked if he would take a glass of
wine before he appeared, "Oh, no, thank you," he replied, "I shall
have it when I come off.
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