PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL VIEW. 75 



difficulty to its true cause, because, forsooth, he 

 had smoked so long without any bad effects — 

 returned to his idol. In a few weeks, however, 

 the recurrence of his trouble convinced him, 

 though much against his will, that it was entirely 

 owing to tobacco. 



A distinguished English physician states that 

 " out of thirty-seven patients suffering from 

 amaurosis, twenty-three were inveterate smokers." 



A highly intelligent man in Vermont, a con- 

 firmed smoker, found that his sight was gradually 

 leaving him. Being a great reader he felt the 

 trial keenly, and was quite willing to follow the 

 total abstinent counsel of his physician, when 

 his sight slowly returned. 



A general freight-agent in Indiana, from exces- 

 sive smoking, found his vision growing dim ; but, 

 disregarding the expostulations of his friends and 

 the entreaties of his wife, he held on to his cigar. 

 One day, on lifting a great weight, the heavy 

 strain went to the weakened optic nerve, and he 

 became blind. He immediately abandoned smok- 

 ing, and put himself under the care of a physician. 

 It was too late, however, and, full of the keenest 

 self-reproach, he caused this account to be pub- 

 lished as a warning to others. 



It is affirmed, on medical testimony, that color- 

 blindness is often caused by the tobacco habit. A 

 well-known public lecturer made the following 

 statement : — 



" A leading oculist of the United States asserted 

 before a Science Congress, in one of our cities, 



