134 Life and Health 



202. Effect of Tobacco upon Digestion. Tobacco acts as 

 an irritant poison to the organs of digestion. It contains 

 a very poisonous substance known as nicotine. 



The irritant properties of tobacco are shown in the 

 abnormal stimulation of the salivary glands. The excess 

 of saliva thus produced is expectorated or swallowed. The 

 normal quantity of saliva necessary for the proper diges- 

 tion of food is thus diminished. 



203. Other Harmful Effects of Tobacco upon Digestion. 

 This unnatural secretion and loss of saliva, which especially 

 results from chewing tobacco, causes a dry ness of the 

 mouth and throat, often resulting in an unnatural thirst. 

 This thirst may tend to provoke a craving for alcoholic 

 liquors. 



Tobacco users generally have a heavily coated tongue 

 and a foul breath, which are symptoms of a disordered con- 

 dition of the digestive organs. 



In chewing tobacco, more or less of the nicotine is dis- 

 solved by the saliva and a part of it is swallowed. In smok- 

 ing, the nicotine in the vapor and smoke is absorbed by the 

 saliva and the mucous membranes. Thus, both in smoking 

 and chewing, the harmful effects of the nicotine are seen 

 in the irritation of all the tissues with which it comes in 

 contact. There may result loss of appetite, sinking feel- 

 ing, nausea, belching of gas, vomiting, distress after eating, 

 and other forms of indigestion so common with those who 

 habitually smoke or chew tobacco. 1 



1 Tobacco lessens the natural appetite, more or less impairs digestion, 

 and induces constipation, while it irritates the mouth and throat, rendering 

 it habitually congested, and destroying the purity of the voice. It induces 

 an habitual sense of uneasiness and nervousness, with epigastric sinking, 

 palpitation, and neuralgia. ALFRED STILL, Professor of Theory and 

 Practice of Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania. 



