74 tobacco: its use and abuse. 



surface of the projected part bled a little, but soon 

 stopped. We punctured the tumor below bis chin, as 

 it pointed, and the skin threatened to inflame and ulce- 

 rate. Strumous-looking matter, whey-colored, with flakes 

 of lymph, flowed. 



1st January, 1857. — Whenever the ligature is tight- 

 ened, it threatens to bleed. He is now fearfully ema- 

 ciated, pulse hardly perceptible, and he is delirious 

 during the night. Bleeding occurs from time to time 

 to the extent of an ounce or so, but is easily checked. 



4th. — For the last four days, life has been ebbing 

 apace, but fortunately no pain oi any consequence. He 

 expired at 3 o'clock, p. M. He died more from inanition 

 than any other cause. 



90. Upon investigation, I find that the late Dr. R 



fell a victim to the smoking of tobacco, and hence I give 

 a iH-ief description of his case, which has already been 

 published, but with no reference to the cause — tobacco. 

 I had myself often seen him smoking, and on inquiry 

 at his nearest relatives', I understand that he was devoted 

 to the custom. One of his relatives states, that he smoked 

 till within two months of his death ; and his biographer 

 writes, that " in the evening he obtained temporary relief 

 from a cigar," Now, unless Dr. R had been accus- 

 tomed to the pernicious weed, he never would have been 

 able, with an ulcerated tongue, to smoke a cigar. 



His biographer thus writes : " In the month of No- 

 vember, 1847, a small blister appeared on his tongue, 

 which before long opened into an ulcer, betraying the 

 symptoms of cancer — a disease which, in spite of the 

 advancement of medicine, is still almost synonymoua 



