106 PROPERTIES OF TOBACCO. 



modic ; and, jointly as a purgative, it is very useful in alvine obstruc- 

 tions. It is not otherwise remarkable for its curative or therapeutic 

 properties. In colic, hernia, tetanus, consumption, ileus, &c., its effi- 

 cacy depends on its powers of relaxing the muscles. In spasmodic 

 asthma it has been found useful in the form of smoke. Topical ap- 

 plications, in cases of gouty and rheumatic inflamation of the joints, and 

 some skin diseases, are said to be serviceable. Tooth-ache has been 

 relieved by the smoke, and it is said that tobacco promotes the growth 

 of the hair. It is seldom administered in substance, the wine of to- 

 bacco being used for all internal purposes. But all the uses of to- 

 bacco require great caution. Vegetable astringents and acids are the 

 best antidotes to its effects, such as an infusion of nut-galls, green 

 tea, also sour fruits, coffee, &c. The wine is made by digesting the 

 leaves for 7 days, straining and strongly expressing the residuum, and 

 filtering the liquor. It is boiled with lard until friable, and strained, 

 when applied to ulcers, but the application must be made cautiously. 



The properties of tobacco are generally narcotic and stimulating to 

 the whole system, especially on the stomach and intestines, to which 

 it proves an emetic and cathartic. The smoke may be administered 

 as a clyster, and an infusion of the leaves forms a powerful lotion for 

 obstinate ulcers. The oil applied to a wound is extremely poisonous, 

 and almost as fatal as the bite of the rattlesnake. This property of 

 tobacco is made available in destroying insects in gardens, in the form 

 of a decoction, powder, or smoke ; it is also used, much diluted, to cure 

 cutaneous eruptions in domestic animals. A quantity of tobacco ought 

 to be raised by every cultivator to exterminate insects. A decoction 

 of the stems or poor leaves diluted with water, or a gallon or two of 

 water from a tobacconist, thrown with a syringe upon peach and other 

 fruit trees, effectually destroys insects. In destroying lice on cattle, 

 and ticks on sheep, its importance is well known. Its use gives plea- 

 sure alike to the savage and the philosopher, the people of the torrid 

 and the frozen zone, and for no other reason than its stimulating ef- 

 fects. 



A hundred volumes, the titles of which have been preserved, have 

 been written against the use of tobacco, but with no other effect, one 

 would suppose, than to increase its use. Could a great moral move- 

 ment be made, like that now prevailing in this country and parts of 

 Europe, against the use of ardent spirits, and now controling willing 

 millions of people, we might anticipate equally important results. This, 

 alone, could accomplish the great and necessary reform. Its use is 

 certainly a strange propensity in man. Its entrance into the domin- 

 ions of the Grand Doke of Moscow was forbidden under pain of the 

 knout for the first offence, and death for the second. James I. wrote 

 a celebrated work, styled Counterblasts to Tobacco." The Emperor 

 of the Turks, the King of Persia, Pope Urban 8th, and others, have 



