The Hygiene of Tobacco 301 



up the ghost. No one has ever denied that tobacco 

 is a poison administered internally. Had these 

 irreverend gentlemen administered a similar dose of 

 the essence of tea they could have killed ten cats. 

 Anti-smokers would have an interesting object-lesson 

 in natural history and toxicology if they administered 

 tobacco to a goat. Poisonous as is tobacco to a cat, 

 goats can and do eat it with impunity. But these 

 fanatics regard all smokers as goats, and reserve unto 

 themselves the title and honour of right-hand sheep. 



Tobacco is undoubtedly a poison taken internally. 

 So are tea and coffee. Theine and caffeine, their 

 essential elements, are more poisonous than tobacco. 

 A grain of theine kills a frog instantly. In Ceylon 

 and Indian teas, which are now used to the exclusion 

 of China tea, theine is present to the extent of 2^ 

 to 4f per cent. Each ounce of tea contains from 

 twelve to twenty-three grains of theine, which is 

 swallowed, not exhaled ; not more than three or four 

 grains can be taken daily without injury. Similarly 

 almonds and peaches owe their flavour to prussic 

 acid, the most deadly of poisons. The potato 

 belongs to the same genus of plants as tobacco, and 

 contains solanine, an acrid narcotic poison of great 

 virulence, two grains of which kill a rabbit after 

 great suffering. The continued consumption of 

 potatoes in large quantities injures and dulls the 

 mental faculties. 



The action and effect of tobacco depend, of course, 

 upon the individual, the time, and the circumstances. 

 It acts both as a sedative and a stimulant. Some 

 persons it affects in the former, others in the latter 



