EE VIEWS. 
363 
Devonian, abundantly support Mr. Kelly’s opinion. If instead of writing a 
book upon the errors of geology, he had given us the results of his great 
practical experience regarding the relation and character of the Devonian 
beds in Ireland, he would have done more for geology and less injury to his 
own reputation. 
FOR AND AGAINST TOBACCO.* 
A lthough the researches upon the action of tobacco on the animal 
system, which the accomplished editor of the Social Science Review 
has just published, are in pamphlet form, they are not on that account of less 
importance or interest. Some time ago, Dr. Richardson contemplated reading 
a paper before the Social Science Association ; but, unfortunately, he com- 
menced his inquiries too late in order to complete his paper in such a way 
as, on becoming fully conversant with the subject, he felt it deserved. Since 
that period he has made an extensive series of investigations upon the 
operation of tobacco-smoke upon the body, and these he has recorded in the 
jpages before us. It is not often that we meet with a scientific man capable 
of carr 3 ung out original experiments, and of impartially analyzing the evidence 
adduced by other workers. These two qualities Dr. Richardson shows us in 
his pamphlet that he possesses in a high degree. Hence his remarks are 
worth listening to, and merit careful attention. Tobacco-smoke presents a 
far more complex composition than is generally imagined. In ascertaining 
the products of the combustion of the “ weed,” the methods heretofore 
adopted have been somewhat objectionable. It is one thing to place a 
quantity of tobacco in a retort, and submit it to destructive distillation, and 
another to place a cigar between the lips and cause its combustion by suc- 
cessive inhalations. The conditions both as to the supply of oxygen in both 
cases, and as to other matters, are totally different. If, therefore, we would 
discover the nature of the compounds formed whilst we smoke a pipe or 
cigar, we must resort to such an ingenious method as that contrived by Dr. 
Richardson. “ I constructed,” says the writer, “ a small pair of bellows on 
a principle w^hich made them act as the lips and chest of the smoker act in 
the process of smoking. The bellows, in these experiments, drew over the 
air in small whiffs ; part of the smoke produced by the combustion was 
allowed to escape from the mouth of the pipe or the lighted end of the cigar, 
as occurs in ordinary smoking ; while the remaining portion of the smoke, 
which in the man would be taken into the lungs, was drawn into the bellows 
and subjected to analysis.” Having procured the smoke by these means in 
precisely the same state as it is found during smoking, it was analyzed, and 
found to contain the following ingredients : — Carbon, ammonia, carbonic 
acid, water, and a peculiar oil. The latter, upon further examination, proved 
to be made up of three distinct components — a fluid alkaloid called nicotine, 
a volatile empyreumatic substance, and a resinous extract of a bitter flavour. 
These, then, are all the substances which a proximate analysis of tobacco- 
smoke demonstrates. Let us see what are their respective eJffects. The carbon, 
* “ For and Against Tobacco.” By Benjamin Ward Richardson, M.A., 
M.D., &c. London : John Churchill. 1865. 
