232 The Soverane Herbe 



scarcely goes. As he approaches his own time he 

 is very sparse, but his book covers the early history 

 of tobacco so completely that later writers have 

 little or nothing to add to the facts collected by 

 Fairholt. The industrious winnowing of ' Papers of 

 Tobacco,' ' Tobacco Talks,' ' The Smoker's Friend,' 

 and such booklets yields a few grains, but the pro- 

 portion to the amount of chaff is painfully small. 



Legend, the purest form of poetry, holds in un- 

 civilized peoples the position of history in more 

 advanced lands. Directly, it has been said, truth 

 is written it becomes false ; at all events, its reduc- 

 tion to black and white strips it too frequently of 

 all its beauty. Tobacco, though only three centuries 

 known in the Old World, has legends of its origin. 



The orthodox legend of Islam is that Mahomet, 

 finding a sick viper, restored it to health by the heat 

 of his body. Returning to vigorous health, the viper 

 requited the prophet's kindness by biting his wrist. 

 Mahomet sucked the venom from the wound and 

 spat it forth. 'From these drops sprang that 

 wondrous weed which has the bitterness of the 

 serpent's tooth quelled by the sweet saliva of the 

 prophet.' 



' He who doth not smoke hath either known no 

 great griefs,' wrote Lytton, ' or refuseth himself the 

 softest consolation next to that which comes from 

 heaven.' ' What, softer than woman ?' whispers the 

 young reader. Young reader, woman teases as well 

 as consoles. Woman makes half the sorrows which 

 she boasts the privilege to soothe. Woman con- 

 soles us, it is true, while we are young and hand- 



