Literary Notices. 149 



is not essential to their duties ; but they do it with moderate ease ; 

 they receive nothing that is deposited in their structure, and, let 

 alone, they soon regain their natural condition. In the recognition 

 of these simple truths, the whole gist of the tobacco controversy is 

 enclosed ; it is on the presence of the functional disturbance that the 

 vehement anti-tobacconist bases his arguments ; it is on the absence 

 of organic mischief that the advocate of tobacco rests his defence." 

 This is Dr. Richardson's philosophy of the whole matter ; but while 

 disposed to go a little way with the anti-tobacconists, we think it 

 necessary to guard against supposing that every disturbance of 

 function is necessarily a mischievous thing. This must, we 

 imagine, depend on the amount of the disturbance, on its precise 

 character, and on the state of co-ordination or the reverse in 

 which the various functions previously existed. The red globules-- 

 of the blood are found by Dr. Richardson to be much affected by 

 smoking ; " they lose their round shape, they become oval, audi 

 irregular at the edges, and instead of having a mutual attrac- 

 tion for each other, and running together — a good sign of their- 

 physical health — they lie loosely scattered before the eye, and indi- 

 cate to the learned observer that the man from whom they were- 

 taken is physically depressed or deplorably deficient in muscular and 

 mental power. ' ' Dr. Richardson tells us that these remarks result from 

 direct observation of the blood of smokers in every phase of poisoning 

 by tobacco, and he believes they fairly represent the action of 

 tobacco on the blood. But is it right to assume that moderate smok- 

 ing in persons that are seasoned to its influence really poisons them 

 at all ? Is it not more probable that the functional changes it effects 

 are in many cases beneficial ? Dr. Richardson explains how rapidly 

 the poisonous effects may pass away ; but if a hard-working man 

 smokes his pipe, and feels refreshed by it, is it correct to suppose 

 that his resumption of labour is an indication that he has recovered 

 from a mild attack of poisoning ? What proof is there that he has. 

 been poisoned at all ? Tobacco is admitted by Dr. Richardson to 

 have " the property of checking the oxydation of the body, and thus- 

 of diminishing waste ;" and if so, there must be occasions for its- 

 use in appropriate quantities, to which no poisonous action could 

 be ascribed. Many of the charges against tobacco are rejected by 

 Dr. Richardson on what appears good grounds ; but he thinks it 

 prone to occasion a peculiar disorder, described by Dr. Gibb as the 

 " smoker's sore throat," of which enlargement of the tonsils con- 

 stitutes one symptom, In consumption and chronic bronchitis, Dr. 

 Richardson finds smoking decidedly mischievous ; and on the whole, 

 he regards it as "a luxury which any nation of natural habits had 

 better be without ;" and he adds, " I do not hesitate to say that if a 

 community of youths of both sexes, whose progenitors were finely 

 formed and powerful, were to be trained to the early practise of 

 smoking, and if marriage were to be confined to the smokers, an 

 apparently new and physically inferior race of men and women 

 would be bred up." With this we thoroughly concur, and think that 

 any rational parent would desire to prevent boys from smoking, just 

 as they would object to their beginning life with dram-drinking. 



