PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 51 



being due to the circumstance of the system becoming 

 more inured to its use, and therefore less susceptible of 

 its influence.'' 



63. In a moral and physical point of view, the im- 

 portance of the inquiry cannot be over-estimated. The 

 strongest proof of this, is attested by the fact, that, du- 

 ring last year, not less than twenty-ei^ht million lbs. 

 (28,000,000) of tobacco were consumed in Great Bri- 

 tain, exclusive of the large portion smuggled, which can- 

 not be estimated. 



64. A vast load of responsibility is devolved upon the 

 members of the medical profession, who are, if not the 

 sole, by far the most competent section of the commu- 

 nity to pronounce a judgment on, and solve so important 

 an inquiry. So far as the discussion has progressed, the 

 three following dOTuctions have been indisputably esta- 

 blished by unquestionable medical testimony : 



Ist. That excessive smoking, long persisted in, is in- 

 jurious to man in the highest degree — physically, men- 

 tally, and morally, 



2dlt/. That the commencement of smoking in early 

 life, and indulgence in the practice early in the day, 

 cannot be too strongly condemned, as leading to most 

 pernicious effects on the constitution. 



3c%. That smoking, even in what is called a moderate 

 degree, is, to say the very least of it, indirectly injurious, 

 more especially to the young; because it is not denied, 

 it acts as an inducement to drinking — thus becoming 

 the source of intemperance, and all its accompanying 

 evils. It is notorious that the practices are, almost 

 without exception, inseparably associated. The remark 



