Kellogg Authors Conan Doyle and the Sleeping Fiend

Dr. Richard Kellogg, professor of psychology at Alfred State College, is the author of an article appearing in the most recent issue of The Serpentine Muse, a literary quarterly.  Titled "Conan Doyle and the Sleeping Fiend," the article focuses on how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle utilized cocaine both in his medical practice and in his literary career.

Doyle, like most physicians of his era, considered cocaine to be a wonder drug and recommended the substance for a variety of mental and physical illnesses.  He sensed, however, that the medication had strong addictive properties and sometimes referred to cocaine as a "sleeping fiend."  As an author, Doyle had his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes, injecting a seven percent solution of cocaine three times a day.  The great detective often asserted that the drug increased his energy level and enhanced his powers of perception.

Kellogg is a prior recipient of an instructional grant from the SUNY Research Foundation and he uses the Sherlock Holmes literature to demonstrate problem-solving strategies in his psychology classes.  He is the author of two books and more than 20 articles dealing with Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes.  Kellogg joined the Alfred State faculty in 1970 after receiving his graduate degrees from Alfred University and the University of Rochester.