em to have little or no effect upon
him, nor do moderate quantities of wines or spirits stimulate him. That
is to say, he has not a very impressible nervous organization, is not
imaginative, nor very liable to accept results on insufficient or partial
evidence.

Fully occupied with work, both physical and mental in due proportion, for
more than ten hours every secular day, when evening comes he finds
himself unable to read long on account of a drowsiness supposed to be of
a purely physiological character. With a full breakfast at about 7:30, a
full dinner at about 2:30, and a light evening meal about 7, and no
stimulants, or tea, or coffee at any time, he finds, as a matter of not
invariable but general habit, that by half past 8 drowsiness becomes so
dominant that it becomes almost impossible, and generally impracticable,
to avoid falling asleep in his chair while attempting to read, even
though ordinary conversation be carried on around him.

The first trial to combat or prevent this drowsiness was made with
caffeine. The first specimen used was a very beautiful article made by
Merck of Darmstadt, and after that by pure specimens made for the
purpose, the two kinds being found identical in effect.

Commencing with a one grain dose at about 6:30 P.M., on alternate
evenings, leaving the intermediate evenings in order to be sure that the
nightly tendency still persisted, and increasing by half a grain each
alternate evening, no very definite effect was perceived, until the dose
reached 21/2 grains, and this dose simply rendered the tendency to sleep
resistible by effort. After an interval of three evenings, with the
tendency to sleep recurring with somewhat varying force each evening, a
dose of 3 grains was taken, the maximum single dose of the German
Pharmacopoeia. This gave a comfortable evening of restedness, without
sleep or any very strong tendency to it until ten o'clock. Without
anything to counteract sleep, the rule was to read with difficulty by
nine, without much comprehension by quarter past nine, and either be
asleep or go to bed by half past nine. The 3 grain dose of caffeine
repeatedly obviated all this discomfort up to ten o'clock, but did not
prevent the habitual, prompt, and sound sleep, from the time of going to
bed till morning.

This was the model established, upon and by which to measure all the
other agents, and they were never taken nearer than on alternate
evenings, with occasional longer inte