i2 4 FROM AN EASY CHAIR 



40. Tobacco and the History of Smoking 



A proposal is before Parliament to prevent little 

 boys from "smoking" in public places. Little girls 

 are, as the bill at present stands, not to be interfered 

 with. Perhaps this is because they are not to have 

 votes when they grow up, and so they may do as they 

 like. 



Apart from the question as to whether the smoking 

 of tobacco is injurious to the health or not, there are 

 many curious questions which arise from time to time 

 as to the history and use of tobacco. I have no doubt 

 that for children the use of tobacco is injurious, and I 

 am inclined to think that it is only free from objection 

 in the case of strong, healthy men, and that even they 

 should avoid any excess, and should only smoke after 

 meals, and never late at night. The strongest man, 

 who can tolerate a cigar or a pipe after breakfast, lunch, 

 and dinner, may easily get into a condition of " nerves " 

 when even one cigarette acts as a poison and causes a 

 slowing of the hearfs action. 



A curious mistake, almost universally made, is that 

 of supposing that the oily juice which forms in a pipe 

 or at the end of a cigar is " nicotine," the chief nerve- 

 poison of tobacco. As a matter of fact, this juice, 

 though it contains injurious substances, contains little 

 or no "nicotine." Nicotine is a colourless volatile 

 liquid, which is vapourised and carried along with the 

 smoke; it is not deposited in the pipe or cigar-end 

 except in very small quantity. It is the chief agent 

 by which tobacco acts on the nervous system, and 

 through that on the heart the agent whose effects are 

 sought and enjoyed by the lover of tobacco. A single 

 drop of pure nicotine will kill a dog. Nicotine has no 



