Thirdly, there is the widespread error of 
ascribing the evils of the abuses of tobacco to 
the use of tobacco. This matter of the use and 
abuse of tobacco cannot be put too clearly. 
Most medical investigators have based their 
results clearly on the excessive use of tobacco. 
It is a very rare thing to find a medical investi- 
gator drawing attention to any harmful results 
following the moderate use of tobacco, and it 
appears a just statement to make that the 
majority of men use tobacco in moderation. It 
appears to be true that excessive smoking is 
harmful and is capable of producing deleterious 
effects on the respiratory and nervous systems 
in man, but it has never been scientifically 
proved that the moderate use of tobacco has any 
particularly harmful effects. Moreover, it is 
well-known to the medical profession and so 
stated constantly that in many cases where the 
use of tobacco has produced bad effects on the 
eye, nerves, etc., its use is contra-indicated, ow- 
ing to the condition of the subject due to other 
causes and that such results would not occur 
in a normally healthy subject. Therefore, be- 
cause tobacco when used excessively or when 
used by persons who are not constitutionally 
fitted for it, produces bad effects, it is not 
logical to argue, as many opponents of tobacco 
176 
