86 ST NICOTINE 



The learned Dutch Physician, Dr. Diemerbroeck, of 

 Utrecht, in his Tract at us de Peste (1635-6) lays stress on 

 the good which he found to come of smoking tobacco. 

 So fully was he persuaded of its powers to kill contagion 

 that for his own sake he smoked almost continuously while 

 attending upon his patients in the hospitals at Nimeguen 

 during the prevalence of the great plague in Holland. He 

 began the day with a pipe ; after dinner he would take two 

 or three more, and a like number after supper ; and if at 

 any time he felt himself affected by his surroundings he 

 immediately had recourse to the weed, which he regarded 

 as his comforter in affliction and preserver from the plague. 

 Dr. Diemerbroeck would seem to have been a model 

 officer of health. Armed with his chosen instrument he 

 gallantly charged the enemy at all hours and in all places, 

 striding along the aisles of death unscathed. His services 

 were invaluable, and ought surely to have been utilised 

 over a larger area than they were. As Smoking Sanitary 

 Commissioner he might have visited, say, Cologne, where 

 much to the advantage of the inhabitants, more particularly 

 to visitors, he doubtless would have founded a Tabako- 

 Collegium. Coleridge would then most likely have been 

 spared his discomfiture and precipitate rout on his 

 encountering there ' seventy-two separate and well-defined 

 stinks.' The Farina Brothers doubtless loved their quaint 

 city whose quainter smells have passed into a proverb, 

 and were animated with sublime ideas of patriotism when 

 they concocted their sweet-smelling waters which were to 

 bring back to it wealth and renown. Their success has 

 equalled their genius : all the world is grateful for Eau de 

 Cologne. 



We now approach the threshold of new and more 

 enlightened views of the uses of tobacco. From the first 



