12-i? TOBACCO : ITS HISTORY. 



bled, and, after a few doses of ether, perfectly 

 recovered.* 



Nothing seems to prove more conclusively that 

 a very different procedure takes place in the 

 absorption of the virtues of tobacco by chewing, 

 to that which occurs on consigning them at once 

 to the mucous membrane of the stomach, than 

 the fact of the complete immunity of the sailor. 

 And yet there is evidence that the aroma at least 

 interpenetrates the tissues like salt in pork, or beef, 

 or fish. The following fact was communicated to 

 Commodore Wilkes, of the Exploring Expedi- 

 tion, by a savage of the Feejee Islands. He 

 stated that a vessel, the hull of which was still 

 lying on the beach, had come ashore in a storm, 

 and that all the crew had fallen into the hands 

 of the islanders. 



"What did you do with them?" inquired 

 Wilkes. 



" Killed 'em all," answered the savage. 



" What did you do with them after you had 

 killed them ? " 



*' Eat 'em — good," returned the cannibal. 



Hygiene Navale, p. 736. Paris, 1856. 



