126 NAT. ORDER. LURID^. 



The history of Tobacco is a singular one. The production 

 of a httle island, or a small district in North America, has fascin- 

 ated the whole world. The Arab cultivates it in the burning 

 desert ; the Laplanders and Esquimaux risk their lives to j^rocure 

 this delicious refreshment; the seaman endures every privation, 

 while he can obtain this luxury ; and the financier collects from 

 it a copious revenue. Yet its fame has not been without occa- 

 sional diminution. It has been opposed by physicians, proscribed 

 by governments, and yet the fashion still prevails, nor until the 

 time arrives when men shall become more humanized by female 

 society, will the custom of smoking be less prevalent. We talk 

 of the habits of the Chinese, in their dissipation, by the extrava- 

 gant use of opium, and at the same lime make use of a much more 

 loathsome and deadly narcotic, prepared and taken in all shapes 

 that the ingenuity of man can invent. 



Medical Properties and Uses. The leaves have a strong, disa- 

 greeable smell, and a burning, acrid taste, yielding their active 

 parts both to spirit and water, but more perfectly to the former. 

 A very small proportion of its virtues, however, rise in distillation 

 from either ; but the watery extract is less pungent than the 

 leaves. The American Tobacco is much stronger than that 

 raised in England, or any other part of Europe, and affords a 

 more pungent extract, though in less quantity. This plant is ev- 

 idently a narcotic, as is evinced by its botanical analogy, and ef- 

 fects. Small quantities snuffed up the nose have produced gid- 

 diness, stupor and vomiting ; and, in larger quantities, there are 

 instances of its pro^^ng a poison. But, with these narcotic 

 qualities, it is said to stimulate, especially in the stomach and 

 intestines, and, in moderate doses, to prove emetic and purgative, 

 occasioning exti-eme anxiet}', vertigo, stupor, and disorders of the 

 senses. In proper quantities, it is, however, an effectual purgative 

 in clysters. By distillation it affords a very pungent essential oil, 

 which is a very active preparation, and, if applied to the tongue 



