TO YOUNG PERSONS, 385 



even in infants, great benefit results from giving small 

 quantities of wine daily for a short time. Hard- 

 working people, students, professional men, and people 

 actively engaged, have been advised to take stimulants 

 as a general rule and some, no doubt, require them ; 

 but I believe many would enjoy very good health 

 without any alcohol at all, while the recommendation 

 that they should take plenty of claret or other light 

 wine, is bad advice for several reasons. Not only is 

 light wine not required, but in many cases it deranges 

 the health. That people who can get it will often 

 take a bottle of light wine, and more, is quite certain ; 

 but that they require it, or that it is good for their 

 health, is another matter altogether. 



Up to the age of 40 very little stimulant is, as a 

 general rule, really desirable for healthy persons, and 

 I expect most people of average health would get on 

 better without any. My own personal experience is 

 this : I was never very strong, though always able 

 to get through a very considerable amount of physical 

 exertion without suffering from fatigue. Up to the 

 age of 40 I* hardly ever touched stimulants of any 

 kind, and when I did take a little, I not unfrequently 

 experienced an attack of sick headache before my 

 ordinary condition of health was restored. Lately, 

 however, I have found the advantage of half a tumbler 

 of ale daily ; and I can bear half an ounce, and some- 

 times three or four ounces, of wine without suffering. 

 I dare say, as I grow older, I may, like most persons, 



