e TOBACCO AND ITS IIISTOnY. 



Besides this essential oil wliiclfis liiglily poisonous, the leaf 

 contains a large amount of salts, consisting of chloiiiles, sul- 

 ])hates, phosphates, annuoniuni, nialates of potassium and other 

 destiucti\e elements. 



Till': KAULY KXlSTFA'Ci: 0!' TOH.V('f'0 



is involved in as great ohscuritv as that of the American In- 

 dian, with whom the herh was evidently sandwiched, and whose 

 traditions point to the rising sun, as the direction whence his 

 ancestors came, through tields of ice in protracted darkness. 



V^arious theories are entertained regarding the origin of 

 tobacco. Some suppose the plant s[trnng np in Yucatan during 

 the dark ages, S[)reading to Old Virginiii, whence Sir Walter 

 Kaleifdi transferred its leaf to the court of (.^i ecu Elizaheth, as 

 a priceless heritage, and tit companion to the Potato, which he 

 planted on his Irish Cork estate ; others are of opinion that the 

 Chinese practiced smoking from a remote antiquity. Tins 

 opinion is l>ased on the fact that in China, on very old sculp- 

 tures, representations of modern tobacco-} )ii)es have been found. 



One idea is that Tobacco was among those pernicious plants 

 which sprung u^) to curse the ground after man's expulsion from 

 Eden. 



Persians, Mohammedans, and other Eastern peoples, have each 

 their antiquarian legend about the origin of Tobacco. The Per- 

 sians hold that shiraz tobacco was given by a holy man to a virtu- 

 ous youth who had lost his wife, and runs thus : " Co to thy wife's 

 tomb and there thou wilt find a weed. Pluck it, i)lace it in a reed, 

 and inhale the smoke as you put tire to it. This will be to you 

 wife, mother, father and brother, and, above all, will be a wise 

 counseror, and teach thy soul wisdom and thy spirit joy." 



The .Sloliammedan legend states that a sick viper was restored 

 to healtli by the warmth of the i)roi)hct's body, and being 

 ungrateful, stung its preserver. "The prophet sucked the 

 venom from his wounded wrist, and spat it forth. From this 

 drop sprang that wondrous weed, which has the bitterness of 



