TOBACCO IN RELATION TO HEALTH 63 



largely cultivated in Germany, Holland, and the countries 

 bordering on the Mediterranean ; indeed, it at one time 

 flourished rapaciously in our own fields, flowering from 

 midsummer to Michaelmas. From its leaves are obtained, 

 under the varying conditions of soil and climate, the kinds 

 of tobacco vended to the consumer under the names of 

 Turkish, Syrian, and Latakia. And on account of its re- 

 taining much of its primitive colour all through the process 

 of drying and manufacture it is recognised in commerce as 

 ' green tobacco.' 



In the third variety we have the beautiful white flowering 

 Persian plant, from whose oblong stem-leaves is prepared 

 the famous Shiraz tobacco, N. persica. It is now recog- 

 nised as a native of Persia, though its original home is un- 

 doubtedly across the Atlantic. Being slow to ignite, this 

 aromatic weed does not lend itself readily to the cigar ; but 

 surely the difficulty might be overcome by using an Indian 

 wrapper. The planters of Dindigul, or, as Sir W. W. 

 Hunter gives the name in the Imperial Gazetteer of India, 

 Dindu-Kal (Rock of Dindu), are now sending to Europe 

 large quantities of their fine flavoured tobacco leaf which 

 would form a very good wrapper for this fragrant but slow- 

 burning weed. 



There is a fourth variety named Nicotiana Finis, which 

 has found much favour in the private gardens of England. 

 It is not so symmetrical as those just mentioned, its leaves 

 are small, widely separated^ in fact, rather straggling ; but 

 under the training of a skilled gardener it is made to assume 

 a bushy form. Its chief attraction is found in the delicate 

 white flowers which it produces ; these during the daytime 

 droop, but at sundown they generally assume an erect 

 posture and become firm, then the petals expand and the 

 flower emits a delicious perfume, sweeter far than jessamine. 



