88 tobacco: its use and abuse. 



and his hand shaking ; so that those who did not kno-w 

 him attributed his condition to drinking. He abandoned 

 smoking, and in two years was an altered man. 



"For above ten years I smoked occasionally; and I 

 am well acquainted with all the soothing, calming, and, 

 for the time, agreeable effect of a cigar, or even short 

 pipe. I left it entirely off abiout nine years since. This 

 I did, because I believed it impaired my nervous energy; 

 and I have every reason to be satisfied with the change. 

 Sinc« that time my attention has been uninterruptedly 

 directed to the question — Is tobacco smoking positively 

 injurious? The conclusion, therefore, which I have 

 briefly given to the world through your pages, has not 

 been hastily or capriciously formed on a few isolated 

 facts. For the last twenty years I have been the medi- 

 cal examiner of various insurance offices — the Royal 

 Exchange, the Victoria, the Crown, and New Equitable. 

 The two former I still hold. In my examinations, I in- 

 quire whether the examinees are in the habit of smoking; 

 and I can now generally tell by the countenance whether 

 they are or not habitual smokers. If I have any doubt 

 on this point, an examination of the fauces decides it. 

 The fauces of the smoker are always more or less injected 

 and rough, presenting the appearance of a piece of dirty 

 red velvet, instead of the pale, pinkish, lilac hue of a 

 healthy throat. The tongue-, when smoking is not com- 

 bined with drinking spirits, as is seldom the case in the 

 upper and middle classes, is usually furred and white, 

 but not otherwise unhealthy.* This condition of the 



* The author has had a representation made, illustrating these 

 efifectt 



