To the Editor:— At the psychiatric division of Professors Wagner Jauregg and Poetzel in Vienna in 1937 and at the admitting room of St. Joseph Hospital from 1940 to 1945 I had the opportunity of studying alcoholism in its various manifestations. Ordinarily we used to resort to paraldehyde, restraints and seclusions for the disturbed resistive violent alcoholic addict, and we used to give various stimulants for the patient in an alcoholic coma. For the last two years we have not admitted acute alcoholic addicts to the wards of St. Joseph Hospital in Paterson, N. J., except patients in deep coma complicated by respiratory failure. Immediately after arrival in the emergency room every alcoholic addict either violent or in coma received 15 grains (1 Gm.) of caffeine with sodium benzoate intravenously, the rate of injection being about ten seconds. The administration of caffeine with sodium benzoate to these patients was followed