RUSSIAN PIPES. 



193 



Russian autocrats opposed its introduction. The am- 

 bassadors of the Duke of Holstein, who visited Moscow 

 in 1634, relate that they saw eight men and a woman 

 publicly knouted for selling brandy and tobacco ; the 

 restriction against tobacco was severe, whipping for 

 the first and death for the second offence ; those who 

 used snuff had their nostrils split. It was not till the 

 close of that century 

 that restrictions were 

 removed. But then 

 the custom became 

 universal. We give a 

 cut of the common 

 Eussian pipe. It is 

 of wood, tipped with 

 the red copper of the 

 Ural mountains, and 

 lined with a thin sheet 

 of tin, rudely nicked 



and turned over at the rim. The stem is of dogwood, 

 and is tied to the pipe by a rough thong of leather, to 

 which is affixed a pick, made of copper wire, to clear 

 out the pipe when necessary. It was taken from the 

 pocket of a Russian soldier killed at Sebastopol, and 

 may have cheered a brave poor man, sacrificed with 

 many other " good men and true," to the selfish 

 injustice of kings. 



Many modes have been adopted to drain the essen- 

 tial oil of tobacco, so that it be not inhaled by the 

 smoker. Sometimes we find in French pipes a false 



