72 ST NICOTINE 



There are people of so gloomy a temperament that they 

 would not let a man cultivate a flower-garden or listen to 

 the songs of birds on the Sabbath ; who look upon music 

 as a sensuous indulgence, and reading as idleness. To 

 these we have nothing to say; it is their misfortune to think 

 and feel so. Stripping the argument of the puerilities and 

 exaggerations of prejudice, let us recognise the broad fact 

 that men of every nation and in every climate do smoke ; 

 a fact that is universal needs no apology. 



The prophylactic properties of tobacco will be considered 

 from an historical point of view in the next chapter, 

 headed, ' The Use and Abuse of Tobacco.' 



This chapter first appeared in The Nineteenih Century for 

 May 1897. Mr. W. T. Stead, co'nmenting upon it in his 

 Review of Reviews^ agreed with the writer's firm stand against 

 juvenile smoking, and expressed the opinion that ere long an 

 act of Parliament would be entered in the Statute Book 

 prohibiting the sale of tobacco to youths under the age of 16. 

 Unavailing efforts to this end were subsequently made by 

 private members of the House of Commons. At last the 

 Legislature has taken up the subject, and under the tactful 

 conduct of the measure of Mr. Herbert Samuel, the Under- 

 Secretary for the Home Office, a Bill has passed the third 

 reading making the sale of cigarettes to children illegal. This 

 step in the right direction will have the effect of awakening 

 public attention to the subject, and of stirring up parents to 

 a more watchful supervision over their children's habits. 



