276 The Soverane Her be 



are the chief consumers, as shown in workhouses, and 

 women are more partial to the pinch than men. 

 Among female operatives in the textile factories snuff- 

 taking is increasing. 



But on the whole snuff-taking is practically extinct ; 

 the practice lingers as a survival of the past. The 

 mark of an old-time character or eccentric is the 

 taking of a pinch. Snuff-takers acknowledge the 

 eccentricity of their practice by the apologetic and 

 almost shamefaced secrecy with which they imbibe 

 the dust. 



Mrs. Malaprop's aphorism that * comparisons are 

 odorous ' certainly applies to an attempt to weigh the 

 merits of smoking and snuffing. An old writer 

 summed up the virtues of tobacco in the line : 



' In smoke thou'rt wisdom and in snuff thou'rt wit.' 



Probably the devotees of each practice receive equal 

 pleasure, though that of the snuff-taker is more fleet- 

 ing and transient. On the other hand, snuff is more 

 keen and concentrated ; hence, perhaps, its use by 

 highly-susceptible persons or nervous temperaments, 

 as the French. Snuff-takers have the merit of being 

 able to indulge their passion at all times, in every 

 place, and under all circumstances, without in any 

 way offending the tastes of others — a privilege which 

 smokers certainly cannot claim. 



In its mental effects smoking differs entirely from 

 snuff. ' The pungent, nose-refresffing weed ' is akin 

 to brilliance, while smoking fosters solidity of thought. 

 Smoking is the contemplative, philosophical man's 

 recreation ; snuff that of the impulsive, brilliant 



