tlfte Wipes of aU Weoptes. 



\Reprinted by permission from the "Birmingham Daily Post," 

 December ibth, iSyo, by "Este.] 



When Sir Walter Raleigh brought over the "Virginian 

 weed," two centuries ago, and when the English Solomon, 

 James the First, fulminated his " Counter-blaste " against' 

 tobacco, it was little suspected that smoking was almost 

 universal, and dated from the earliest days. In his insular 

 ignorance, King James never knew that some form of 

 narcotic had been smoked, and sniffed, and chewed, by all 

 tribes, and in all ages of the world. He wrote his " Counter- 

 blaste," and in his Royal conceit doubtless thought that he 

 had " put out the light " in England and Europe too. He 

 did not know how utterly vain was his little puff of censure, 

 against a habit common to all races and all ages of the world. 

 If King James could return in the flesh, and could visit the 

 Institute Museum, even he would be disposed to own that 

 he had most Quixotically broken his lance against one of the 

 great appetites of man. Wherever researches have extended, 

 wherever excavations have been made, wherever travellers 

 have penetrated, some form of narcotic is found, and hemp 

 or tobacco, or a dozen other products, are chewed, or sniffed, 

 or burnt. From the African who makes a hole in the earth, 

 and puts his hemp therein, with his reed at an angle towards 

 his lips, to the most learned of German professors behind a 

 huge meerschaum bowl, the " Pipe " represents one of the 

 most curious tastes — the love of sedatives and stimulants — 

 all over the world. In fact, to the learned eye the history 

 of pipes is the history of man. In pipes only, the character- 

 istics of race, the tastes of peoples, the skill of individuals, 

 may be distinctly traced. Just as a clear eye will find 

 character in every look and every gesture, just so an 

 educated eye will see in every work of man, some traces of 

 his origin, some revelation of his race. 



