SMOKERS' STORIES. 73 



JULES SANDEAU ON THE 

 CIGAR. 



THE cigar is one of the greatest 

 triumphs of the Old World over the New. 

 It would be curious to trace the origin of 

 the cigar, to watch its gradual develop- 

 ment, and to observe its rapid growth and 

 wide distribution. We might study, too, 

 all the transformations it has undergone 

 in passing from the homely lips of the com- 

 monalty to the rose-colored lips of our 

 dandies. Indeed, its history would not 

 be wholly devoid of interest, for no epoch, 

 perhaps, can show an example of fortune 

 so rapid as that of the cigar. The cigar 

 is ubiquitous ; it is the indispensable com- 

 plement of all idle and elegant life ; the 

 man who does not smoke cannot be re- 

 garded as perfect. The cigar of to-day 

 has taken the place of the little romances, 

 coffee, and verses of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury. I am not talking of the primitive 

 cigar, whose poisonous odor and acrid 



