CHEMISTRY OF A CIGAR. 45 



sixty grains, ten would weigh six hundred grains. 

 In this amount of tobacco there would be twelve 

 grains of pure, crystallizable nicotine. This is vola- 

 tilized by heat, drawn into the mouth along with the 

 other organized principles, and a considerable por- 

 tion mingles with the saliva, and impinges upon the 

 exposed mucous surfaces. The twelve grains iso- 

 lated, made into aqueous solution, and taken into 

 the stomachs, or injected into the subcutaneous ves- 

 sels of three strong men, would probably, in three 

 or five minutes, deprive them of life. A crystal, 

 weighing two grains, placed under the tongue of a 

 healthy adult person, and allowed to dissolve and 

 become absorbed, would also produce fatal conse- 

 quences. It will be easy for those of our readers 

 who smoke two, three, or more cigars a day, to esti- 

 mate from the above calculation how much nicotine 

 they convert into smoke in the twenty-four hours. 



We are considering the cigar strictly from a 

 chemical point of view, and therefore do not intend 

 to be betrayed into the expression of extended or 

 dogmatic opinions regarding the hygienic influence 

 of tobacco upon the human system. There are 

 plenty of sensational preachers and reformers who 

 think themselves wise enough to enlighten smokers 

 and chewers upon this point. 



It must be confessed that chemists, as well as 

 many others, are puzzled to know how a plant so 



