THE CONFESSION OF A REFORMED SMOKER. 83 



In October, 1873, 1 started for the country on a brief furlough, hav- 

 ing served through the heat of the summer as a member of the staff 

 of the Evening Fost, and, not finding the tobacco to my liking, was 

 forced to be exceedingly temperate for several weeks. Slowly, yet 

 perceptibly, the affection of the arms wore off. The hand and fore- 

 arm were less numb when I woke up in the morning, and my hand- 

 writing began to assume its former continuity. This I attributed at 

 first to rest, fresh air, and freedom from worry an error in the main, 

 as will presently appear, though a very natural one under the circum- 

 stances. 



I had been at home four or five weeks when I succeeded in supply- 

 ing my commissary department with a sufficiency of the weed of the 

 required quality, in the mean time smoking a little undoctored Con- 

 necticut leaf, when the craving became too strong to be comfortably 

 resisted, but consuming, probably, less than two ounces a week. Upon 

 resuming my usual quantum, and within twenty-four hours after the 

 resumption, my arms were as troublesome as ever, and no rest in the 

 least availed to soften the shooting pains or dissipate the numbness 

 (penetrated as if with lances of neuralgia) that enveloped the arm 

 from the wrist to the shoulder. I was thoroughly dispirited, and con- 

 templated shifting my profession and applying for admission to the 

 bar. I did not yet suspect the relation between the tobacco-habit and 

 the malady under which I was suffering. 



Remaining in the country, however, longer than I at first intended, 

 my supply of the weed ran out ; and I was again reduced to vulgar 

 rations of Connecticut leaf, of which I consumed the smallest quantity 

 possible. The consequence was an immediate reduction of the pain 

 and numbness in my arms. In the course of this somewhat intermit- 

 tent use of the narcotic, I observed also that a certain cloudiness of 

 recollection, and a slight tendency to aphasia the latter due, probably, 

 to action on the lingual nerve followed the resumption of the full 

 dose after an interval of abstinence, the former interfering materially 

 with the opulence of illustration necessary to a good style, the latter 

 annoying me now and then with slips of the tongue in ordinary con- 

 versation. 



At this stage of the investigation, with the barest suspicion in my 

 mind that tobacco was responsible for most of the ills my flesh had 

 fallen heir to, or rather my nerves, I returned to New York in the 

 latter part of December, and initiated a series of experiments, with a 

 view to test the physiological action of the various brands, and to 

 verify or disarm the suspicion. 



December 26t7i. Procured a quantity of Cuban tobacco known as 

 Honradez, an extremely fine brand, and put myself on a ration of half 

 an ounce per day. Continued this regimen for twelve days, without 

 perceptible alteration in the symptoms so far as my arms were con- 

 cerned. 



