158 TOBACCO-PIPES, CIGARS, ETC. 



that of superseding, in a great measure, the use of 

 wine, which, to say the least, is very injurious to the 

 health . of the inhabitants of hot climates. In the 

 Tales of a Thousand and One Nights, which were 

 written before the introduction of tobacco into the 

 East, and which we may confidently receive as pre- 

 senting faithful pictures of the state of Arabian man- 

 ners and customs at the period when they appeared, 

 we have abundant evidence that wine was much more 

 commonly and more openly drunk by Mooslims of 

 that time than by those of the present day. It may 

 further be remarked, in the way of apology for the 

 pipe, as employed by the Turks and Arabs, that the 

 mild kinds of tobacco generally used by them have a 

 very gentle effect: they calm the nervous system; 

 and, instead of stupifying, sharpen the intellect. The 

 pleasures of Eastern society are certainly much height- 

 ened by the pipe ; and it affords the peasant a cheap 

 and sober refreshment, and probably often restrains 

 him from less innocent indulgences." 



This view of the case has been completely esta- 

 blished by the researches of Dr. Mayer of Ivonigsberg, 

 who discovered in the works of an old Hindostanee 

 physician, a passage in which tobacco is distinctly 

 stated to have been introduced into India by the 

 Frank nations in the year 1609* This completely 

 coincides with the records of early travellers, who 

 state what they saw in the way of punishment awarded 



* Vide Geigefs Handbuch. 



