CHAPTER XIX 



NICOTINE AND ADOLESCENCE 



At a certain banquet in Chicago last year most of the men 

 were smoking. But my friend did not smoke. Neither did 

 the man at his right. Instead, this man said in a low voice : 

 " The truth is, I have two growing boys, and I 've made a 

 bargain with them not to smoke if they would n't. I knew if 

 I smoked, they probably would, whether I wanted them to 

 or not ; that if they smoke, their sons probably will some 

 day, and I don't want to be responsible for damaging the 

 whole set of my descendants. That 's why we 've bargained 

 not to smoke." 



As appeared afterwards, both the man and his sons knew 

 about Dr. McKeever's smoking experiments. It also ap- 

 peared that, in what he was studying out, Dr. McKeever 

 had enlisted the help of over one hundred boys, that their ages 

 ranged from twelve to twenty years, and that they all smoked. 

 Indeed, it was just because they smoked that Dr. McKeever 

 was making his tests. 



He wished to see for himself what tobacco does for the 

 boys. If it helps them either in body or in mind, he intended 

 to pass the fact on for the benefit of other boys. 



In carrying on his investigations, Dr. McKeever used 

 the sphygmograph. This machine has a clockwork contri- 

 vance which moves a strip of smoked paper, on which a 

 needle records the heartbeat. It is fastened to the wrist 

 directly over the artery which passes that way, and as the 



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