28 TOBACCO. 



tobacco factory in Moravia, reports that, of a hun- 

 dred boys entering the works, seventy-two fell 

 sick daring the first six months, while deaths fre- 

 quently occur there from the nicotine poisoning. 



Three or four women, after drinking fresh 

 coffee, were seriously affected with faintness, ver- 

 tigo, nausea, convulsions, and loss of conscious- 

 ness. It was discovered that the coffee-beans had 

 been picked out from the store-sweepings, consist- 

 ing principally of tobacco leaves, among which the 

 coffee had got mixed and lay for a time exposed 

 to the rain. 



A squadron of hussars hid tobacco leaves in their 

 breasts for smuggling purposes. Every man of 

 them was seized with headache, vertigo, and vom- 

 iting. Soldiers have sometimes purposely disabled 

 themselves for war by applying these leaves to the 

 pit of the arm, thus inducing alarming symptoms. 



A Frenchman living near Paris, having cleaned 

 his pipe with a knife, but neglecting to wipe it, 

 subsequently happened to cut one of his fingers. 

 The wound was so slight that he thought nothing 

 of it. A few hours later, however, the finger 

 grew painful and swelled, the inflammation rapidly 

 spreading through the arm. Doctors were sum- 

 moned, but the case remained a mystery till, in 

 answer to inquiries, the enigma was explained. 

 All remedies proved ineffectual, and the man's 

 condition grew so alarming, that he was taken to 

 the hospital, where the arm was amputated as the 

 only chance of saving his life. 



