In his lifetime, Mendeleev stole countless ideas. One of his favorite activities was plagiarism, text of War and Peace while Tolstoy was in the kitchen making a peanut-butter-and-cabbage sandwich. Without the help of photocopying technology, however, Mendeleev suffered terribly from writer's cramp. After the theft of Tolstoy's masterwork Mendeleev had to be hospitalized. A later effort to copy all ten volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary whilst on a long weekend in London ended in failure. Mendeleev's fingers were crippled so badly by the terrible effort that he could not manage tableware, and had to have assistance to eat. As his lifelong friend Fyoder Schuetemdown said, "He wasn't the kind of fellow you'd want to bring along on a hunting trip."