204 The Soverane Herbe 



Within the last twenty years the smoking of 

 cigarettes has reached enormous proportions in the 

 United States. The imposition of a stamp duty on 

 packets of cigarettes supplies a means of estimating 

 their consumption. In 1 880 only 500,000,000 cigarettes 

 were sold and smoked in the States ; last year the 

 number reached the enormous total of 4,476,000,000 

 cigarettes, or 200 a year for each male in the country. 

 In this country statistics are unavailable, but to 

 the enormous increase in the number of cigarettes 

 sold all manufacturers bear witness. Thousands are 

 sold now where tens were demanded formerly. It 

 is estimated that fully 3,000,000,000 are consumed 

 annually in this country, and the consumption is rapidly 

 increasing. The tobacco thus made up is some 4,500 

 tons, and represents in duty alone ;^3,2So,ooo sterling. 

 The Customs authorities attribute the increased re- 

 venue from tobacco to the use of the cigarette, and 

 this theory is supported by public appearances. 



The adoption of the cigarette has been a clear 

 increase to the consumption of tobacco. A cigarette 

 is additional or supplementary to the pipe or cigar. 

 There are, of course, many smokers who confine their 

 attentions to cigarettes, but they are consumed largely 

 by pipe and cigar-smokers also. People who ten years 

 ago smoked a pipe or cigar now sport the ubiquitous 

 cigarette. For occasions when a pipe is ' scarcely 

 the thing,' or for times when a pipe is too cumber- 

 some and lengthy, the cigarette makes its appearance 

 where, without it, there would be no smoking. It is 

 undoubtedly the most elegant form of smoking. As a 

 stepping-stone to the more solid pipe and cigar, the 



