126 
NAT. ORDER. LURID^. 
The history of Tobacco is a singular one. The production 
of a httle island, or a small district in North America, has fascin- 
ated the whole world. The Arab cultivates it in the burning 
desei't ; the Laplanders and Esquimaux risk their lives to procure 
this delicious refreshment; the seaman endures every privation, 
while he can obtain this luxury ; and the financier collects from 
it a copious revenue. Yet its fame has not been without occa- 
sional diminution. It has been opposed by physicians, proscribed 
by governments, and yet the fashion still prevails, nor until the 
time arrives when men shall become more humanized by female 
society, will the custom of smoking be less prevalent. We talk 
of the habits of the Chinese, in their dissipation, by the extrava- 
gant use of opium, and at the same time make use of a much more 
loathsome and deadly narcotic, prepared and taken in all shapes 
that the ingenuitv of man can invent. 
Medical Properties and ZTses. The leaves have a strong, disa- 
greeable smell, and a burning, acrid taste, yielding their active 
parts both to spirit and water, but more perfectly to the former. 
A very small proportion of its virtues, however, rise in distillation 
from either ; but the watery extract is less pungent than the 
leaves. The American Tobacco is much stronger than that 
raised in England, or any other part of Europe, and affords a 
more pungent extract, though in less quantity. This plant is ev- 
idently a narcotic, as is evinced by its botanical analogy, and ef- 
fects. Small quantities snuffed up the nose have produced gid- 
diness, stupor and vomiting ; and, in larger quantities, there are 
instances of its proving a poison. But, with these narcotic 
qualities, it is said to stimulate, especially in the stomach and 
intestines, and, in moderate doses, to prove emetic and purgative, 
occasioning extreme anxiet}^ vertigo, stupor, and disorders of the 
senses. In proper quantities, it is, however, an effectual purgative 
in clysters. By distillation it affords a very pungent essential oil, 
which is a very active preparation, and, if applied to the tongue 
