that "tobacco exercises a soothing influence 

 when the nervous system is in anyway irritable ; 

 it tends to calm and continuous thinking." 

 Fullerton says, "It gives a composure and feel- 

 ing of well-being which are beneficial to mind 

 and body." Of these facts there can be no 

 doubt because they are matters of common daily 

 observation and experience. Most smokers find 

 a solace and quieting influence from their eve- 

 ning smoke after the worries of a troublesome 

 day which no other agent can give them. The 

 effect produced may be partly psychological 

 but that does not matter. Indeed the strenu- 

 ousness of life in the age in which we live seems 

 to demand such a help and nothing appears to 

 supply the want so efficiently, so pleasantly, 

 and with less harm, than a quiet smoke. It puts 

 the smoker at peace with himself and at peace 

 with others. Bush found in his investigations 

 on the mental effects of tobacco on college stu- 

 dents that there was a temporary loss of ten 

 per cent in mental efficiency in certain faculties 

 of the mind. This is probably true enough 

 though his results are not quite conclusive. On 

 the other hand many men find that they can 

 think more clearly and more consecutively when 

 helped by a smoke. Indeed they smoke when 



they have a knotty problem to solve. The 



I 



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