20 tobacco: its use and abuse 



without for some time affecting much tte action of the 

 heart; so that, in this respect, it operates very nnicli in 

 the manner of prussic acid. 



8. On man, the physiological effects have been very 

 minutely observed. I cannot do better than give the 

 words of Mr. Pereira : ^' In small doses, tobacco causes 

 a sensation of heat in the throat, and sometimes a feel- 

 ing of warmth at the stomach. These effects are, how- 

 ever, less obvious when the remedy is taken in a liquid 

 form, and largely diluted. By repetition, it usually ope- 

 rates as a diuretic, and less frequently as a laxative. 

 Accompanying these effects are often nausea, and a pe- 

 culiar feeling, usually described as giddiness, scarcely 

 according with the ordinary acceptation of this form. 

 As dropsical swellings sometimes disappear under the 

 operation of these doses, it has been inferred that the 

 remedy promotes the operation of the absorbents. In 

 larger doses it promotes nausea, vomiting, and purging : 

 though it seldom gives rise to abdominal pain, it pro 

 duces a most distressing sensation of sinking at the pit 

 of the stomach. It occasionally acts as an anodyne, or 

 more rarely promotes sleep. But its most remarkable 

 effects are languor, feebleness, relaxation of muscles, 

 trembling of the limbs, great anxiety, and tendency to 

 faint. Vision is frequently enfeebled, the ideas con- 

 fused, the pulse small and weak, the respiration some- 

 what laborious, the surface cold and clammy, or bathed 

 in a cold sweat, and, in extreme cases, convulsive move- 

 ments are observed. In excessive doses, the effects are 

 of the same kind, but more violent in degree. The 

 more prominent symptoms are nausea, vomiting, and in 



