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CHAP. VI. 
Of 7 0 B A C C 0 . 
EVER did Nature produce a Plant 
that in a fhort Time became fo uni* 
verfally ufed, for it was but a fhort while 
known in Europe , till it was taken almoft 
every where, either chewed, fmoaked, or 
fnuffed; a Pipe of Tobacco is now the 
general and moft frequent Companion of 
Mug, Bottle* or Punch-bowl. Sir, or 
Mr. John Nicot , one of the Moft Chri - 
ftian King’s Council, was fent Ambafla- 
dor, by his Mailer, to the Court of Por- 
tugal in 1559, where he continued till 
1561. Some time after his Arrival, he went 
to fee the Edifices, publick Buildings and 
Monuments ; the Keeper of the laft pre- 
fented Sir John with a Plant juft brought 
from Florida , which the Europeans knew 
nothing of; he planted it in his Garden, 
where it flouriihed and encreafed mightily, 
but its Virtues or Ufes were ftiil a Secret, 
till one Day a Coufin of one of Sir John’s 
Pages, who had an obftinate, painful, and 
Q^2 fpreading 
