Q14 ORD. XII. Solanacee, seu Luride. NicOTIANA TABACUM. 
liquid so necessary in the business of digestion; and both by this 
«‘ waste and by the narcotic power at the same time applied, the 
* tone of the stomach is often weakened, and every kind of dys- 
** peptic symptoms are produced. Though in smoking a great part 
“‘ of the smoke is again blown out of the mouth, still a part of it 
** must necessarily pass into the lungs, and its narcotic power applied . 
“ there often relieves spasmodic asthma ; and by its stimulant power 
“it there also sometimes promotes expectoration, and proves useful 
‘in the catarrhal or pituitous difficulty of breathing. 
« Smoking has been frequently mentioned as a means of guarding 
** men against contagion. In the case of the plague, the testimony 
“of Diemerbroek is very strong; but Rivinus and others give us 
“* many facts which contradict this: and Chenot gives a remarkable 
* instance of its inutility. We cannot indeed suppose that tobacco 
** contains an antidote of any contagion, or that in general it has any 
“‘ antiseptic power; and therefore we cannot allow that it has any 
“ special use in this case: but it is very probable that this and other 
** narcotics, by diminishing sensibility, may render men less liable 
“ to contagion; and by rendering the mind less active and anxious, 
** it may also render men less liable to fear, which has so often the 
* power of exciting the activity of the contagion. The antiloimic 
“ powers of tobacco are therefore on the same footing with those 
“ of wine, brandy, and opium. 
« The third mode of using tobacco is that of chewing it, when it 
** shows its narcotic qualities as strongly as inany other way of ap- 
“ plying it; though the nauseous taste of it commonly prevents its 
“* being carried far in the first practice. When the practice, how- 
* ever, is continued, as it is very difficult to avoid some part of it 
*« dissolyed in the saliva from going down into the stomach, so this, 
** with the nausea excited by the taste, makes vomiting more readily 
** occasioned by this than the other modes of applying it. They are 
* the strong, and even disagreeable impressions repeated, that give 
* the most durable and tenacious habits; and therefore the chenlae 
* of tobacco is apt to become one of these: and it is therefore in this 
