6. STRONG DRINK AND TOBACCO SMOKE. 



general features and cliaracters of genuine tobacco. 

 Most of us, therefore, must be powerless in tlie bands 

 of the fraudulent manufacturer, to whom we not un- 

 frequently pay something more than 35. 6cZ. per pound 

 for the leaves of wayside plants — dock, burdock, fox- 

 glove, elecampane, &c. &c. — with which our tobacco 

 leaves are, at times, contaminated. If it is somewhat 

 unpleasant to be thus reminded of what we may be 

 smoking, it is equally satisfactory to know that very 

 little patience and attention are all that are requisite 

 to gain a knowledge of those marked and unchangeable 

 characters which Nature has stamped on the leaves of 

 plants, as on all her productions ; and thus, those of 

 them invisible to the naked sight can, with the help 

 of a microscojoe, be traced in our cigars, our cut 

 tobaccos, and even in our snuffs. Nor is much learn- 

 ing requisite to master the few and simple features 

 which characterise these leaves ; for they are of so 

 marked and constant a character, so easily to be under- 

 stood, and the analysis of them lies so completely 

 within the reach of ordinary intelligence, as to be well 

 worth the trouble of acquiring. 



And this leads iije to the manner of treating my 

 four plants. A. cursory glance at some of the numerous 

 illustrations of the book, will impress many readers with a 

 notion that the objects delineated are as strange-looking 

 as they are novel ; but they are not, on that account, diffi- 

 cult to understand, or, as I believe, unworthy of being 

 studied. Prominent amono: these will be found sections, 



