COMMUNICATIONS AKD EXTRACTS. 137 



it necessary to issue, as a caution to the ofl&cers of thia 

 department. I have seen several, and heard of more 

 such cases occurring among the general public, few of 

 whom are aware of the ' causa tanti mali! 



" ^ Caution. — The Medical Oflficer cautions the men 

 against the practice of smoking short pipes — more par- 

 ticularly those, however, under the name of ^Meer- 

 Bchaum-washed pipes.' Several cases of diseases of the 

 throat, gums, and stomach have recently occurred, trace- 

 able to this cause. The Meerschaum-washed pipes are 

 frequently, if not always, prepared with powerful mine- 

 ral acids ; and the narcotic oils inhaled through them, 

 exert a more than ordinarily pernicious influence on the 

 health.' Waller Lewis, M. B. Cantab., 



" Medical Officer to Her Majesty's Post Office. 



«4^^ i>ecem6er, 1858." 



145. I have brought forward, I trust, evidence suffi- 

 cient to convince the most skeptical, that tobacco is a 

 most deleterious drug, whether used in the form of 

 smoke, snuflF, or quid — all of which modes of administra- 

 tion, the public, and what is more surprising, the medical 

 profession, seem hitherto to have regarded with most 

 unaccountable nonchalance. 



The authorities which I have adduced, condemning 

 tobacco smoking, must be allowed, by every unprejudiced 

 mind, greatly to outweigh, in real value, all those brought 

 forward in favor of it, not a few of the latter writings 

 having been got up from more than questionable motives. 



