Tobacco 



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origin. The evidence afforded by this line of reasoning, therefore, points to the general intro- 

 duction into the New World of a plant which was already recognised under an accepted name, 

 and this name was that under which the plant was .received in Europe from America. 



The only remaining point for us to consider is the validity of the statement which ascribed 

 two indigenous species of Nicotiana to Asia, viz., N. ftcrsica, to which we have already referred, 

 and N. chinensis, which was stated by the Russian botanist Fischer to be of, Chinese origin. 

 The former is in all probability a variety of a Brazilian plant, which must have been introduced 

 into Persia by seed, and the latter has proved to be merely N. Tabacum. 



Summing up, then, we find that, in all probability, there are no truly Asiatic species of 

 Nicotiana, which is a typically American genus, and the only two species occurring outside the 

 Western hemisphere are N. suaveolens and N. fragrans, both of which are found in Australasia. 



The origin of the word "" tobacco " has given rise to a certain amount of discussion. One 

 view inclines to the belief that the word is derived from the island of Tobago, in the West Indies, 

 the chief evidence in support of this opinion being that, when in 1520 Ferdinand Cortez gained 

 a great victory in this island he found extensive plantations of tobacco in several districts. 

 The plantations, however, were no larger than others which had been previously noted in 

 other parts of America, and there seems no reason to regard Tobago as the home of tobacco, 

 from which the herb received its name. Benzoni, an early American explorer, states in his 

 : ' Travels in America " (1542-1556) that the native name of the plant in Mexico was " tabacco." 

 There seems to be little doubt, however, that the true origin of the word as it was received in 

 Europe was derived from the name of a peculiar piece of apparatus used by the natives of San 

 Domingo in smoking the herb. When the Spaniards visited this island in the early years 

 of the sixteenth century, they found the people inhaling the fumes of burning tobacco through 

 a double pipe which was inserted in the nostrils. The " pipe " was of narrow diameter and 

 Y-shaped, the arms of the Y being sufficiently close together to be held in the nostrils with 

 comfort, while the leg of the instrument was held in the fumes of tobacco which were thus 

 drawn up into the nose and inhaled. This " pipe " was called by the natives " tabaco," 

 and there is little doubt that in it we have the origin of our " tobacco." It should be noted 

 that the smoking pipe of the Indians of the American mainland was quite different from the 

 tabaco, and corresponded, roughly speaking, to the modern type. 



PLANTING UP NEW LAND IN TOBACCO 



