1859.] REVIEWS. 309 



procured in abundance, and as they contain^ according to Mr. 

 Fairholt, Nicotine, would perhaps answer better than Cabbage. 



Mr. Fairholt then proceeds to notice the physical properties 

 of tobacco as given by the works of Dr. Edmund Gardener, 

 London, 1610, and Dr. John Neander, Leyden, 1622, who pre- 

 scribed it for almost all the diseases of life, but we are not in- 

 formed whether these ills of life were cured by smoking, snuffing, 

 or chewing. He refers to the question so often asked, whether 

 tobacco is injurious, and this has not been satisfactorily an- 

 swered : it must therefore be left to the decision of the consumer 

 himself. We know many of our readers differ in opinion on 

 this subject, but the fact remains clear to all, that tobacco is 

 a poisonous plant, and its effect on the stomach is injurious, 

 as it weakens it, and lessens the appetite. 



' Every Man his own Doctor/ by John Archer, one of his 

 Majesty's physicians in ordinary, 1673, says, tobacco heats the 

 body and defrauds the stomach by offending it, so there may be 

 the less appetite or craving for food; and he adds, if you ab- 

 stain from smoking, you will find your breath sweeter, your 

 stomach better, your eyes stronger, your teeth the whiter and 

 sounder, and yourself wiser. 



There is a peculiarity in this plant, namely, that when de- 

 stroyed by fire, the smoke contains an intoxicating property, 

 and it would be worth inquiry whether other plants of this 

 genus have the same. Some plants lose their aroma by being 

 burnt, others give off an aroma by decomposition, as the bark 

 of Cascarilla, etc. 



The second chapter, "On Tobacco in America,'^ tells us that 

 in 1492 Columbus first noted the Indian custom of tobacco- 

 smoking, and the natives were smoking the leaves roUed up 

 like cigars, and puffing the smoke from their mouths and noses; 

 and the Indians of Hispaniola, according to Oviedo^s History 

 (1526), used tobacco by inhalation through the nostrils by means 

 of a hollow forked cane, the forked ends going into the nos- 

 trils, and the other end being applied to the burning leaves of 

 the herb, and this tube had the name " tabaca" by the In- 

 dians. It appears from Roman Paine, who accompanied Co- 

 lumbus in his voyage in 1494, that snuff was taken in a similar 

 manner by the Indians, the tobacco being reduced to powder 

 and drawn through a cane into the nostrils. This is the earliest 



