TOBACCO. 



Tclfrlburg alouf amounted to upwards of 47,000 lublei ; 

 and thf Hitter, from all parts of the empire, barely to 

 20,000 : however, the confumption muft have increafed, as 

 the exportation in 1768 is ftated by Guldenftxdt at 21,000, 

 and the whole of the importation at loH,ooo rubles. The 

 culture has been profitably carried on, fince the year 1763, 

 in various dillriAs of the empire. Mod of it is obtained in 

 the Mulo-RulTun governments, wliere the cultivation was 

 firft encouraged ; but it has been much cultivated in other 

 regions, e.g. about the Volga and the Samara, and parti- 

 cularly by the CofTacks on the Orenburg and Siberian lines. 

 The greater part of tlie Ruffian tobacco is derived from 

 American, and fome Turkilh and Perfian feed. In the 

 generality of the fouthern governments, thefe plantations 

 admit of being greatly multiplied. Tlie different forts of 

 tobacco and fnuns prepared from it, which are now in ufe, 

 are to be attributed to the difference of the chmate and foil 

 in wiiich it grows, and the peculiar mode of managing and 

 manufatluring the plant, rather than to any efTcntial dif- 

 ference in its qualities. 



Tobacco, in the Materia Medica, ^c. This is a well- 

 known drug of a narcotic quality, which it difcovers in all 

 pcrfons, even in fmall quantity, when firfl applied to them ; 

 and when ufed in large quantities, its efTefts have fometimes 

 been more violent. To as to have proved a mortal poifon. 

 Bcfides its narcotic qualities, it pofTefTes alfo a ftrongly fli- 

 mulant power, perhaps, as Dr. CuUen obferves, with refpeft 

 to the whole fyflem, but cfpecially with refpedl to the flo- 

 mach and intellines ; fo as readily, even in no great dofes, 

 to prove emetic and purgative. 



The leaves of tobacco have a ftrong difagreeable fmell, 

 and a very acrid burping tafle : diflilled in a retort, with- 

 out addition, they yield an acrid, empyreumatic, poifonous 

 oil. They give out their acrid, matter both to water and 

 fpirit, but mofl perfeftly to the latter : the aqueous infu- 

 lions are of a yellow or brown colour, the fpirituous of a 

 deep green. The feveral forts of tobacco imported from 

 abroad are flronger in tafte than that of our own growth, 

 and the extrafts made from them much more fiery, but in 

 lefs quantity. 



Tobacco has been employed, in ordinary ufe, by fnuffing, 

 fmoking, and chewing ; and thefe praftices have been com- 

 mon for more than 200 years to all Europe, and they have 

 more or lefs prevailed in other parts of the globe. Like 

 other narcotics, the ufe of it may be introduced by degrees ; 

 and its peculiar effefts may hardly at all be manifcfled ; but 

 beyond certain limits, violent effefts have been fometimes 

 produced on thofe who have been accuflomed to the ufe of 

 it. The power of habit is often unequal, even among thofe 

 who have been addifted to this praftice. Dr. CuUen men- 

 tions a lady, who had been for more than twenty years ac- 

 cuflomed to take fnufF at all times of the day ; but fhe found 

 at length that indulging much in the ufe of fnuff before din- 

 ner took away her appetite ; and in procefs of time, that a 

 lingle pinch, taken any time before dinner, palled her appe- 

 tite for that meal. But when fhe abftained from the ufe of 

 it, her appetite returned ; and after dinner, for the reft of the 

 day, fhe took fnufF freely without inconvenience. When 

 fnuff, that is, tobacco in powder, is firft applied to the nofe, 

 It proves a flinuilus, and excites fneezing ; but by repetition, 

 that effcdl entirely ccafes. 



Snuff, when firfl employed, if it be not taken in fmall 

 quantity, and if it be not thrown out immediately by 

 facczine, occafions fome giddinefs and confufion of head : 

 but thefe effeas do not occur when perfons are habituated 

 to the ufe of n. But fuch perfons, if it be taken beyond 

 the ufual quantity, experience the fame confequences ; and 



the effeft 13 manifeft, not only cfn the fenforium, but on » 

 other parts of the fyflem, particularly the ftomach, occa- 

 fioning a lofs of appetite, aud other fymptoms of a weakened 

 tone in that organ. Dr. Cullen fays, that he has obferved 

 feveral inftances of perfons who take fnuff to excefs, fuffer- 

 ing from it by a lofs of memory, by a fatuity, and by other 

 fymptoms of the weakened or fenile flate of the nervous 

 fyflem, induced before the ufual period. He has alfo found 

 fymptoms of dyfpepfia, and pains of the flomach, occurring 

 every day, in confequence of excefs in the praftice of taking 

 fnuff. Thefe fymptoms have fubfided, when the ufe of 

 fnuff has been difcoiitinued. A fpecial effedl of fnufSng, 

 ho fays, is its exciting a confiderable difcharge of mucus 

 from the nofe ; and there have been feveral inflances of 

 head-aches, tooth-aches, and ophthalmias thus relieved : and 

 when this difcharge of mucus is confiderable, the ceafing 

 or fuppreffion of it, by abftaining from fnuff, is apt to occa- 

 fion thofe diforders which it had formerly relieved. An- 

 other eiiedl of taking fnuff is this, that as a part of the 

 fnuff is often carried back into the fauces, fo a part of this is 

 carried down into the flomach, and then more certainly pro- 

 duces the above-mentioned dyfpeptic fymptoms. 



Smoking, when firfl praftifed, fliews very ftrongly the 

 narcotic, vomiting, and even purging powers of tobacco, 

 and it is very often ufeful as an anodyne ; but by repetition 

 thefe eflefts difappear, or only fhew themfelves when the 

 quantity fmoked is beyond what habit had before admitted 

 of ; and even in perfons much accuftomed to it, it may be 

 carried fo far as to prove a mortal poifon. From much 

 fmoking, all the fame effefts may arife which we faid might 

 arife from the excefs in fnufBng. 



With refpeft to the evacuation of mucus which is pro- 

 duced by fnuffing, there are analogous effefts produced by 

 fmoking, which commonly ftimulate the mucous follicles of 

 the mouth and fauces, and particularly the excretories of the 

 falivafy glands. By the evacuation from both fources, with 

 the concurrence of the narcotic power, the tooth-ache is often 

 greatly relieved by it ; but we have not found the fmoking 

 relieve head-aches and ophthalmias fo much as fnuffing often 

 does. Sometimes fmoking dries the mouth and fauces, and 

 occafions a demand for drink ; but, as commonly the ftimu- 

 lus it applies to the mucous follicles and falivary glands 

 draws forth their liquids, it occafions on the other hand a 

 frequent fpitting. 



So far as this is of the proper faliva, it occafions a vrafte 

 of that liquid fo necefTary in the bufinefs of digeftion ; and 

 both by this wafte, and by the narcotic power at the fame 

 time applied, the tone of the ftomach is often weakened, 

 and every kind of dyfpeptic fymptoms is produced. 

 Though in fmoking a great part of the fmoke is again 

 blown out of the mouth, flill a part of it muft neceffarily 

 pafs into the lungs, and its narcotic power applied there often 

 reheves fpafmodic afthma ; and by its ftimulant power it 

 there alfo fometimes promotes expedloration, and proves 

 ufeful in the catarrhal or pituitous difficulty of breathing. 



Smoking has been frequently mentioned as a means 

 of guarding men againft contagion. In the cafe of the 

 plague, the teftimony of Diemerbroek is very ftrong ; but 

 Rivinus and others give us many fafts which contradift this ; 

 and Chenot gives a remarkable inftance of its inutility. We 

 cannot indeed fuppofe that tobacco contains an antidote of 

 any contagion, or that in general it has any antifeptic 

 power ; and therefore we cannot allow that it has any fpecial 

 ufe in this cafe : but it is very probable that this and other 

 narcotics, by diminifhing fenfibihty, may render men lefs 

 liable to contagion ; and by rendering the mind lefs aftive 

 and anxious, it may alfo render men left liable to fear, whicl» 



has 



