180 THE WONDERFUL HOUSE THAT JACK HAS 



were smokers. Dr. Hitchcock of Amherst College 

 has obtained similar figures from records kept of 

 students who were gaining an education there. Surely 

 any boy who wants to be able to do his best, either 

 in play or at study, can make Professor Seaver's 

 conclusions the very best of reasons why he will not 

 begin to use tobacco in any form. 



Indeed, the bad effect of tobacco on the physical 

 and mental development of boys is so well known 

 that the law makes its sale to children a misdemeanor 

 punishable by fine or imprisonment. And such an 

 act should receive the severest punishment, for tobacco, 

 especially in the form of cigarettes, stunts children's 

 growth. It also dulls their minds, and makes them 

 listless and inattentive. Boys often commence smok- 

 ing in the belief that it will make them appear manly. 

 On the contrary, it takes away from their manly ap- 

 pearance by causing unnatural pallor and thinness. 

 Besides this, its effect on their wills may be so weaken- 

 ing that often boys who would not otherwise have 

 stooped to anything low or impure, disgrace them- 

 selves and their friends by doing mean and vicious 

 things. 



The odor of tobacco is very penetrating, being 

 noticeable in both the clothes and the breath of its 

 users. Smokers and their immediate family and 

 friends get accustomed to this odor, but it is fre- 

 quently disliked by others. One of the unfortunate 

 things about the smoking habit is that those who 



