TOBACCO, 475 
In 1559 Tobacco was sent into Spain and Por- 
tugal by Hernandez de Toledo, and from. thence 
it was carried. into France as a curiosity by Jean 
Nicot or Nicotius, ambassador at the court of Lis- 
bon, whose name is now immortalized by its 
application to this genus of plants. From this 
period the use of tobacco spread rapidly through 
the continent, and in half a century it was known 
in most countries in Europe. The rich indulged 
in it, as a luxury of the highest kind; and the poor 
gave themselves up to it, as a solace for the mis- 
eries of life. Its use became so general and so 
excessive, that in many countries, the constituted 
authorities, both of church and state, found it 
necessary to interpose, and to stop the extraya- 
gant indulgence in it by the severest prohibi- 
tions. James the First of England, besides writ- 
ing a book against it, called his “Counterblast to 
Tobacco,” gave orders that no planter in Virginia’ 
_ should cultivate more than one hundred pounds. 
Pope Urban the. Eighth published a decree of 
excommunication against all who took snuff in- 
the church. Smoking was forbidden in Russia 
under penalty of having the nose cut off. In- 
Switzerland ‘a tribunal (Chambre du tabac) was 
instituted for the express purpose of trying trans-— 
gressors in Tobacco. A Turk, who was found 
