84 TOBACCO AND ITS EFFECTS. 



acid to the use of tobacco ; but that some analogous and 

 equally poisonous principle is generated in certain indi- 

 viduals by its abuse, is evident from their cachectic looks, 

 and from the dark, and often greenish-yellow tint of the 

 blood. That severe and peculiar dyspeptic symptoms are 

 sometimes produced by inveterate snuff-taking is known, 

 and I have more than once seen such cases terminate 

 fatally with malignant disease of the stomach and liver. 

 Great smokers, also, especially those who use short pipes 

 and cigars, are said to be liable to cancerous affections of 

 the lips. But it happens with tobacco, as with deleterious 

 articles of diet, — the strong and healthy suffer compar- 

 atively little, while the weak and predisposed to disease 

 fall victims to its poisonous operation. Surely, if the 

 dictates of reason were allowed to prevail, an article so 

 injurious to health, and so offensive in all its forms and 

 modes of employment, must speedily be banished from 

 common use." 



Sir Benjamin Brodie, in his " Physiological Researches," 

 published in 1854, says : " We may conclude that the em- 

 pyreumatic oil of tobacco occasions death by destroying 

 the functions of the brain, without directly acting on the 

 circulation. In other words, its effects are similar to those 

 of alcohol, the juice of aconite, and the essential oil of 

 almonds." This testimony might be greatly increased, 

 were it necessary or desirable to add to it. 



On the other hand, the advocates and friends of tobacco 

 consider it a harmless luxury, and hold that " it soothes 

 irritated nerves, clears and sharpens the exhausted intel- 

 lect, fills an indefinable vacancy, produces a satisfied and 

 calm condition of the mind, dispels loneliness, relieves 

 weariness, and induces repose." They assert that its bad 



