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When Duncan is asleep
(Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey
Soundly invite him), his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassel so convince,
That memory, the warder^[1] of the brain,
Shall be a fume,^[2] and the receipt of reason
A limbeck^[3] only.

—Macbeth, Act 1, Scene VII.

By this it is not meant that men must neither drink nor smoke if they desire to possess good memories, because both these things may be indulged in with moderation without doing any serious harm to the mind, but it is the author's opinion that overindulgence of any kind (drinking, eating, or smoking) tends to weaken the mind and thus injure the memory.

The means employed for strength-

1. One who wards or keeps guard.
2. Any state of mind that confuses or stupefies.
3. A still: a vessel through which distilled liquors pass.

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