A LECTURE ON- TOBACCO. 45 



Stimulate him to procure food. It is a mockery, if a man 

 needs bread, to give him a weed. Tobacco does not feed 

 him ; and because he is not well fed, tobacco is more in- 

 jurious to him tlian to his well-nurtured neighbor ; he be- 

 comes emaciated. The smoker may feel warmed, because 

 his sense of cold is numbed ; while the thermometer 

 would show that he has really lowered his temperature. 

 If any one smokes to overcome an unwholesome smell, 

 he only adds to the nuisance ; the ashes and smoke are 

 two dirts the more. The carbonic oxide from the imper- 

 fectly kindled tobacco is an additional element of danger. 

 Smoke blinds in more senses than one. 



Tobacco is taken in different forms. At one time snuff 

 was in fashion. Some great men have been great snuffers, 

 — among them Napoleon I., who kept it loose in his 

 pocket ; his life was shortened by it. Lunatics are usually 

 very fond of snuff. It is the dried leaf and part of the stalk 

 of tobacco, ground down ; but it is also adulterated with 

 other irritating substances. Carlyle told Mr. W. Maccall 

 that he had been cured of snuff-taking when he was four 

 years old. Some old ladies offered him a pinch from their 

 box. '' A succession of explosions followed, and," said he, 

 " I thought my head was blown off." At the age of 

 eleven he unfortunately became a smoker. It is no com- 

 pliment to call a person "snuffy." The snuff he drops 

 hurts our noses, his nose offends our eyes, and the habit 

 is not only unpleasant, but injurious ; it often results in 

 apoplexy. 



Another use, or abuse, of tobacco, is ckewi?ig. This is 

 not a custom in England, except among sailors, but 

 Americans are notorious for it. In the prison at Black- 

 well's Island, New York, a few years ago, there were not a 



