222 TOBACCO-PIPES, CIGARS, ETC. 



The stronger the wind, blows, 

 The brighter thou burnest ! 



The dreariest of life's woes, 

 Less gloomy thou turnest. 



As I feel on my lip 

 Thy unselfish kiss ; 



Like thy flame-colour'd tip, 

 All is rosy-hued bliss. 



No longer does sorrow, 

 Lay weight on my heart ; 



And all fears of the morrow, 

 In joy-dreams depart. 



Sweet cheerer of sadness ! 



Life's own happy star ! 

 I greet thee with gladness, 



My friendly cigar ! 



Cigars are sometimes asserted to have a superiority- 

 over pipes, because they consume the oil of tobacco ; 

 but this is a fallacy, inasmuch as the oil is no more 

 burnt away or evaporated than in a pipe ; it is, in 

 fact, drawn to, and condensed in, that part of the cigar 

 between the lips of the smoker ; hence cigars, though 

 mild in smoking, contract a rankness of flavour when 

 consumed to the last inch, which is generally thrown 

 away. This has led to the invention of cigar-tubes, or 

 holders, by which they are kept at a distance from the 

 lips, and may be entirely consumed. These are some- 

 times made of meerschaum clay, and occasionally 

 decorated with sculptured figures, as in the example 

 engraved, where a lion is baited by dogs. Such sculp- 

 ture serves another purpose than mere ornament, as 

 it gives the smoker's fingers a firmer hold, for which 



