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POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



the beaus of the courts who prided themselves in aping 

 the hardy voyagers who had trod the wilds of Virginia. 

 Sir Walter Ealeigh and a few other great names gave still 

 greater encouragement to its adoption^ so that before the 

 end of Queen Elizabeth^s reign the habit was by no means 

 uncommon. 



Nevertheless its pernicious effects were clearly seen by 

 those not prejudiced in its favour^ and strong efforts were 

 made in every country to resist the progress of the evil. 

 A German writer is said to have collected the titles of one 

 hundred different works condemning its use^ which were 

 published within half a century from the date of its intro- 

 duction to Europe. In Eussia it was prohibited^ and the 

 smoker was threatened with the knout for the first offence^ 

 and death for the second. Pope Urban VIII. fulminated 

 a bull against the use of tobacco^ but the anathema fell to 

 the ground. The priests and Sultans of Turkey and Persia 

 declared smoking a sin against their holy religion ; but the 

 Turks and Persians became the greatest smokers in the 

 world. In our own country James I. wrote a treatise 

 against it^ entitled Counterblaste to Tobacco/ which 

 excited much attention^ but, instead of checking the use of 

 the weed, probably introduced it to the notice of many who 



