From a review of the 124 testimonies, including those which appear in the Appendix, I find that 25 use wine at dinner only; 30 are abstainers from all alcoholic liquors; 24 use tobacco, out of which only 12 smoke whilst at work; one chews and one took snuff. Not one resorts to alcohol for stimulus to thinking, and only two or three defend its use under special circumstances--"useful at a pinch," under "physical or mental exhaustion." "Not one resorts to alcohol" for inspiration. This is an important discovery, and indicates the existence of more enlightened views in reference to the value of alcohol, since Burns sang the praise of whisky:--"It kindles wit and weakens fear." That some literary men still "support" themselves by alcoholic stimulants, is no doubt true; and, if M. Taine is not mistaken, some of the leader writers of the London papers can write their articles only by the aid of a bottle of champagne. When the creative faculty flags, or the attention wanders, a writer, who is working against time, is strongly tempted to fly to stimulants for aid. But leader writing, or any other kind of writing, done under the influence of any kind of stimulants, is, remarks Blackie, unhealthy work, and tends to no good. "It may safely be affirmed," thinks the editor of the _Contemporary Review,_ "that no purely conscientious writing was ever produced under stimulation from alcohol. Harriet Martineau was one of those workers who could not write a paragraph without asking herself, 'Is that wholly true? Is it a good thing to say it? Shall I lead anyone astray by it? Had I better soften it down, or keep it back? Is it as well as I can say it?' Writing like that of Wilson's 'Noctes,' or Hoffman's madder stories, may be produced under the influence of wine, but 'stuff of the conscience', not." The workman himself is injured, as well as the quality of his work lessened. Mr. Hamerton says he has seen terrible results from the use of stimulants at work; and anyone who has read literary history, or who has had any experience of literary life in London, knows that the rock upon which many men split is--drink. Whatever journalists may gain from alcohol, other writers who have tried it say nothing in its favour. Mr. Howells does not take wine at all, because it weakens his work and his working force. To Mark Twain wine is a clog to the pen, not an inspiration. "I have," he says, "never seen the time when I could write to my satisfaction after drinking even one glass of wine." Dr. Bain finds abstinence from alcohol and the tea group essential to intellectual effort. They induce, he says, a false excitement, not compatible with severe application to problems of difficulty; and the experience of other workers, whether literary or scientific, is precisely similar. 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.