256 TOBACCO. 



necessarily burn well. Schlosing and Nessler have 

 shown that the well-burning of a tobacco does not 

 always correspond with a great amount of nitric acid, 

 thus indicating that other substances or other conditions 

 also affect the combustibility. The effect of the nitric 

 acid will most probably vary with the base with which 

 it is in combination. 



The nitrogen in the forms of nicotine, ammonia, and 

 nitric acid, constitutes only a small portion of the total 

 amount present in tobacco ; by far the greater portion 

 (f-|) exists in the form of albuminoids. Nessler found 

 that the nitrogen under this form varies from 2 to 4 per 

 cent., which is equal to 13-26 per cent, of albuminoids. 

 Substances rich in albuminoids generally burn badly, 

 and emit a pungent noxious odour. On the condition 

 of these albuminoids, and on the presence of other sub- 

 stances, as nitric acid, alkalies, &c., in the tobacco, mostly 

 depend the burning qualities of the leaf, and the flavour 

 of a cigar. The Eastern habit in smoking, from Malaysia, 

 Japan and China, through India, Persia and Turkey, even 

 to Hungary, is to inhale the smoke into the lungs, and 

 natives of these countries maintain that a tobacco should 

 be of full flavour without burning the throat or catching 

 the breath. Western nations do not admit the smoke 

 further than the mouth, and therefore require a strong, 

 rank flavour. 



Whilst drying and fermenting, the tobacco undergoes 

 great changes. Some substances are decomposed, others 

 are newly formed. The highly complicated compounds, 

 the albuminoids, undergo first decomposition, and in 

 doing so give rise to more simple combinations. Nitric 



