It is interesting to note in connection with the renewed discussion in college of the question of temperance, brought about by the efforts of the Total Abstinence League, that President Porter of Yale has just declared publicly his disbelief in prohibition as impracticable. He believes, however, in strict license, and says he looks forward to the time when intoxicating liquor will be regarded as dangerous as dynamite now is, and its sale as carefully restricted.

A little work, which bears upon this subject and furnishes some very interesting statistics, has just been brought out by an Englishman, Mr. A. A. Reade. It is entitled "Study and Stimulants." The author has taken pains to collect personal opinions and experiences from men distinguished in literature and science, and has thereby arrived at conclusions which cannot fail to be serviceable to all brain workers. These conclusions are as follows: 1. That alcohol and tobacco are of no value to a healthy student. 2. That the most vigorous thinkers and hardest workers abstain from both stimulants. 3. That those who have tried both moderation and total abstinence find the latter the more healthful practice. 4. That almost every brain-worker would be the better for abstinence. 5. That the most abstruse calculations may be made and the most laborious mental work performed without artificial stimulus. 6. That all work done under the influence of alcohol is unhealthy work. 7. That the only pure brain stimulants are external ones - fresh air, cold water, walking, riding and other out-door exercises.

It is true that these conclusions are not strikingly original, but, backed as they are by the author's extensive investigations, they carry a very considerable weight. Many curious habits of students and writers are detailed. When Littre, the French philosopher, felt the strain upon his system produced by continuous thought he repaired his natural forces with doses of fruit, jelly or jam, pots of which he kept conveniently at hand in his study. Gladstone eschews tobacco and only drinks light wines. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes prefers an entirely undisturbed and unclouded brain for mental work, unstimulated by anything stronger than tea or coffee, unaffected by tobacco or other drugs. He does not believe that any stimulus is of advantage to a healthy student, unless now and then, socially, in the intervals of mental labor. "I have never smoked," Matthew Arnold writes, "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 pre-supposed, one can hardly do better, I should think, than 'follow nature' as to what one drinks and its times and quantity. 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."

And so there follows the testimony of almost all the prominent authors and scholars of the world, from W. D. Howells to Victor Hngo, on the subject of the use of stimulants and tobacco. Many approve of a moderate use of both. None of those quoted, however, resort to alcohol as a habitual stimulus to thought. And many yet abjure the use of both alcohol and tobacco. Their combined testimony, however, cannot fail to be of use to any student in forming his opinions on a matter so vexed and disputed as the question of total abstinence and temperance at present is.