2Q TOBACCO : ITS HISTORY. 



the world weighs as much as the wheat con- 

 sumed by ten millions of Englishmen. Eeckon- 

 ing it at only double the market value of wheat, 

 2d. and a fraction per pound (immensely below 

 the mark), it is worth in money as much as all 

 the wheat eaten in Great Britain.* Such com- 

 putations are more objects of curiosity than 

 worthy of serious consideration ; since the earth 

 and the fulness thereof are adapted to support a 

 thousand times more inhabitants than exist, and 

 the arithmetic of the matter applies equally to 

 another " article " of daily and universal con- 

 sumption — more effectually injurious to the 

 health of man than tobacco, a powerful nervous 

 medicine daily imbibed — tea and coffee — the 

 •united duties on which paid, last year, 6,389,722/.; 

 thus giving a much larger head-consumption, and 

 a positively correct one — for the two drinks enter 

 into the blood-circulation of every man, woman, 

 and child m the kingdom. 



Johnston, * Chemistry of Life,' uhi supra. 



