COMMUNICATIONS AND EXTRACTS. 65 



his death made a profound impression on the Emperor^ 

 who at once sent his physician, Bretonneau, to whom 

 the Count complained of fatigue in all his members — 

 of enervation. Dr. Bretonneau replied, ^You surely 

 smoke some twelve or fifteen cigars a-day. Smoke less. 

 Abstain, if you can, altogether from smoking, and you 

 will end these symptoms of weakness and enervation.' " 



83. In the able Clinical Lecture of Mr. Solly, Surgeon 

 of St. Thomas's Hospital, on Paralysis, there occurs the 

 following statement : 



" There was another habit, also, in which my patient 

 indulged, and which I cannot but regard as the curse 

 of the present age — I mean smoking. Now, don't be 

 frightened, my young friends, I am not going to give a 

 sermon against smoking — that is not my business; but 

 it is my business to point out to you all the various and 

 insidious causes of general paralysis, and smoking is one 

 of them. I know of no single vice which does so much 

 harm as smoking. It is a sjiare and a delusion. It 

 soothes the excited nervous system at the time, to render 

 it more irritable and more feeble ultimately. It is like 

 opium in that respect ; and if yoii want to know all the 

 wretchedness which this drug can produce, you should 

 read the ^ Confessions of an Opium-eater.' I can always 

 distinguish by his complexion a man who smokes much; 

 and the appearance which the fauces present, is an un- 

 erring guide to the habits of such a man. I believe 

 that cases of general paralysis are more frequent in 

 England than they used to be, and I suspect that 

 smoking tobacco is one of the causes of that increase.** 

 •— Vide Lancet for ISth December, 1856, page 641. 

 E 



