TOBACCO, INSANITY AND NERVOUSNESS. 15 



But may be, that one or the other tobacco-user comes to 

 the conclusion that he shows some of the symptoms 

 detailed above himself, and that he resolves to quit ; is 

 there, in this case, any danger in the abrupt discontin- 

 uance of the drug, as there is in quitting the habitual use 

 of alcohol or morphine, for instance? 



My experience is that there is none. By " tapering off " 

 the combat would be unnecessarily prolonged. 



It is not well to make a compromise for him, who has 

 already begun to suffer from outspoken toxic effects of nico- 

 tine, and to simply decrease the daily allowance of tobacco. 

 Many a smoker is astonished to hear from his physician 

 that even the two or three cigars he is smoking now, keep 

 him in the wretched state he complains of, when a dozen 

 and more in former years did not affect him. 



The explanation of this paradox is very simple. Through 

 chronic poisoning, or a long series of acute and sub-acute 

 attacks of nicotine intoxication he has lost all resisting 

 power and, like the broken-down alcoholic, who used to 

 drink a quart or more of whisky a day, and, when his nerves 

 are shattered by the abuse gets pathologically drunk and 

 fuddled on one ounce, so the nicotine-invalid is completely 

 unnerved by one or two cigars. 



A stumbling-block to good resolutions proves often the 

 following mistake which is quite prevalent: Many smokers 

 who are told that tobacco is at the bottom of their ailment 

 and who finally believe it and act on this belief, expect that 

 with abolishing the cause, the effect will cease immediately, 

 that they will jump with both feet into perfect health on 

 quitting tobacco. They do not consider that the mischief 

 done by a chronic disease of any kind to the organism, it 

 takes months, nay, years, to undo by strict hygienic living. 

 Tobacco-cachexia in its various forms, is no exception to 

 the rule. 



Lastly: Are there means by which the abandoning of 



4-1 1 RCH 



