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.