ON TOBACCO. Whatever the advocates of tobacco may say in its defence, the fact is not to be disputed that its use, especially by those whose nervous temperament has early fitted them for a keen enjoyment of the passions, is often followed by very deplorable results. TOBACCO possesses most of the noxious qualities of other narcotics. The effects that result from smoking are due to different agents imbibed by the smoker, namely, carbonic acid, ammonia, nicotine, a volatile empyreumatic substance, and a bitter extract. The more common effects are traceable to the carbonic acid and ammonia; the rarer and more severe effects to the nicotine, the empyreumatic substance, and the extract. All the evils of smoking are functional in character, and no confirmed smoker can ever be said, so long as he indulges in the habit, to be well. Smoking produces disturbances, first, in the blood, causing undue fluidity and change in the red corpuscles; secondly, on the stomach, giving rise to debility, nausea, and in extreme cases sickness; thirdly, on the heart, producing debility of that organ and irregular action; fourthly, on the organs of sense, causing in the extreme degree dilation of the pupils of the eye, confusion of vision, bright lines, luminous specks, and long retention of images on the retina, with other and analogous symptoms affecting the ear, namely, inability clearly to define sounds, and the annoyance of a sharp, ringing sound like a whistle or bell; fifthly, on the brain, suspending the waste of that organ, and oppressing it if it be duly nourished, but soothing it if it be exhausted; sixthly, on the nervous filaments and sympathetic or organic nerves, leading to deficient power in them, and to over-secretion in those surfaces-glandsover which the nerves exert a controlling force; seventhly, on the mucous membrane of the mouth, causing enlargement and soreness of the tonsils (smoker's sore throat), redness and dryness, and occasional peeling off of the membrane, and either unnatural firmness, or contraction, or sponginess of the gums; eighthly, on the bronchial surface of the lungs, when that is already irritable, sustaining the irritation, and increasing the cough. Chewing is the worst manner in which tobacco can be used: the waste of saliva is most serious, and the derangement of the digestive organs, and consequent disease of the stomach and liver, most severe. To the young, until the growth is completed, and the fat and tissues of the body exceed the supply, tobacco is very hurtful. It enfeebles the vital energy, and retards the processes of nutrition and assimilation, impairs growth, brings premature manhood, and general physical degradation. Tobacco is usually in its immediate effects apparently beneficial and soothing to the system, relieving the uneasy feelings produced by bodily and mental exhaustion. Hence there is some show of reason in its favour. Again, the use of tobacco being so very general forms a strong inducement to persevere with it, and there are consequently few practices into which a youth is more likely to fall than that of smoking. The habit once formed, speedily becomes strong and fascinating, and before long a perfect slavery, even in cases in which there was at first no great inclination for it. This fact, and the truly pitiable condition into which thousands upon thousands ultimately bring themselves by the habit, loudly demands of every one before commencing the indulgence serious consideration. No substantial argument can be advanced in favour of the use of tobacco on account of any real benefit arising from it. It is a mistake to suppose that smoking aids digestion. The fact is, that most persons, after discontinuing the use of tobacco, have an increase of appetite and digestive energy. It is indisputable that health is in no way improved by smoking. Those who use tobacco may seem to bear its effects with impunity, but it is simply because the previous use of the drug has induced a perverted or morbid state of the system, to which further continuance of the drug's use brings at least a temporary relief. The objections urged against the use of tobacco more or less apply to the use of cigars and to snuff-taking. Snuffing injures the sense of smell, affects the sight, the voice, breathing, and digestion, and it has a strong tendency to produce determination of blood to the head, and apoplexy. As far as the individual is concerned, the practices of smoking and snuffing are not only to be condemned on account of the physical degradation they induce, an unmistakable idea of which is conveyed to the mind of any one who will take the trouble calmly to reflect upon the subject, but also on account of the habits of uncleanliness they often engender. The use of tobacco, &c., considered in its relation to the comfort and feelings of others, is an odious custom. The smoker is usually very selfish; he perseveres in contaminating the atmosphere, and is careless whom he annoys, and thus he becomes a fitting inmate of the tavern only. In conclusion, looking at the generally pernicious effect produced on society by the use of tobacco, it is amazing that this practice should prevail to such a fearful extent, without calling forth more consideration and remonstrance. The number of smokers in Great Britain, it is said on good authority, is upwards of a million. "Why should there exist perpetually a million of men, not one of whom can at any moment be writ down as in perfect health from day to day? Why should a million of men be living with stomachs that only partially digest, hearts that labour unnaturally, and blood that is not fully oxydised? In a purely philosophical point of view, the question admits of but one answer, namely, that the existence of a million of such imperfectly working living organisms is a national absurdity, a picture which, to a superior intelligence observing the whole and grasping it, would suggest a mania foolish, ridiculous, and incomprehensible.' EXPERIMENTS PROVING THE INJURIOUS Professor J. S. Rogers, in endeavouring to ascertain by experiment the effects produced on the system by various kinds of narcotics, says, in speaking of the external application of tobacco, that a leaf of tobacco, when dipped in brandy and applied to the stomach of a person unaccustomed to its action, will often induce vomiting, vertigo, prostration of strength, cold sweats, and the exact appearance of approaching death.' Another writer on this subject gives an account of a man who was seized with vertigo, nausea, vomiting, and other distressing |