CHEWING AND DIPPING. 245 



fifty years, and where a few pounds of it was the legitimate 

 price for a wife, it is not surprising that it should be more 

 highly prized and come into more general use than in any 

 other section of our country. On the banks of the James 

 River it was first successfully cultivated by the English col- 

 ony, and this simple fact alone must forever throw a charm 

 around it, which will foster the pride of the Yirginian who 

 has any respect for his ancestry, and hold him under sacred 

 obligations to use, cherish, and defend the plant and its use 

 all of which he regards as no less a pleasure than a duty. 

 Here too its many virtues were first discovered, and its sooth- 

 ing effects first felt and appreciated. 



" To the old Yirginian it is indeed a cherished weed, charm- 

 ing all manner of diseases, comforting in sorrow, soothing 

 the ills of life, and preserving to a good old age and in a 

 happy frame of mind all who use it. He believes in its 

 superior virtues, and ascribes to it more good qualities than 

 to any other known plant. He always carries it about with 

 him, and if perchance he gets out he is truly miserable. He 

 not only loves but worships it as a cure all. His wife and 

 daughters know its virtues full well, and use it with equal 

 grace and relish, believing it gives a lustre to the eye and a 

 freshness to the cheek rarely surpassed. Among the variety 

 of ways in which it is used none attracted my attention so 

 much as the novel manner of snuff-taking in various parts of 

 Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. 



"In some localities the practice is unknown, while in many 

 others it is very common. I first discovered young ladies 

 putting snuff into their mouths as if eating it, when my 

 curiosity was excited to an alarming extent, but on being 

 invited to * dip ' with them I soon learned that they were not 

 eating, but * rubbing and chewing' it, as they called it, and 

 in such a lively manner as to soon convince me that they 

 appreciated it. I found the habit to be quite common even 

 among the young of both sexes all indulging in it as if it 

 afforded real satisfaction to the appetite for tobacco in some 

 form. 



" The young ladies however seemed the more attached to 

 the ' rubbing process,' as it has been appropriately styled, and 

 defended it with equal logic and grace whenever it was 

 assailed. The young gentlemen when in the society of the 

 young ladies generally join them in this unique use of snuff, 

 as they are always sure to be invited and urged if they 

 decline, and to merit their favor of course they must appear 



