Virginia Berridge's note on early meanings of 'addiction' quotes Falstaff in Henry IV recommending 'addiction' to sherry. He certainly meant "make a habit of..." rather than "become physiologically dependent upon..." I read this while preparing a talk on the "Bacchanalian Tradition" in English poetry and song, in which I further quote Falstaff's version of the common belief that wine facilitates wit and imagination. In his mind, 'addiction' is a positive virtue: " A good sherris-sack hath a twofold operation in it. It ascends me to the brain, dries me there all the foolish & dull & crudy vapors which envion it, makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full of firey & delectable shapes, which delivered ošer to the voice - the tongue - becomes excellent wit. " David Ingle, Framingham, Massachusetts