REVIEWS. 
245 
the poison, in producing vomiting, had been the cause of the rupture of the blood-vessel, 
and that this had been the cause of death. The Coroner, after eonsultation with the 
jury, said it had been determined to adjourn the inquiry, and he felt it his duty to call 
upon the husband of the deceased to enter into recognizances of £100 to appear beioie 
him at the next examination. 
REVIEWS. 
For and Against Tobacco; or Tobacco in its . 
viduals and Communtties. By Benjamin Ward Richardson, M.i ., • 
Physician to the Royal Infirmary for Diseases ofthe Chest. London : John Churchill 
and Sons, 11, New Burlington Street, W. lbG5. 
The great increase in the number of tobacco-smokers which has taken place of late 
vears and the little real knowledge we possess of the effects of tobacco smoking on 
the human body, invest the subject treated of in this essay with a great and growing 
interest Some recent writers have told us that tobacco smoking is the cause of nume- 
rnn, rni'd fatal diseases • while Drs. Christison and Pereira state that they are unac¬ 
quainted with any well ascertained ill-effects resulting from the habitual practice of 
smoking With such conflicting opinions, a treatise on lobacco in its Relation to 
Health h required which shall be founded, more especially, on fresh researches, and in 
which the conclusions shall not be hastily arrived at, but based on long experience of the 
Se C t s of tobacco on the human system, and from experiments performed generally on 
animals * With these views Dr. Richardson has investigated the subject, and although 
“S further research is still required, we regard his essay as a valuable addition to our 
knowledge of the physiological effects etc., of tobacco 
better (although the extract is rather a long one) than quote Di. Richardson s summary, 
~u°i r ^ellecteShat^Tfrom smoking are due to different agents imbibed by the 
smoker viz carbonic acid, ammonia, nicotine, a volatile empyreumatic substance, and 
a bitter extract The more common effects are traceable to the carbonic acid and am¬ 
monia ; the rarer and more severe to the nicotine, the empyreumatic substance, and the 
The effects produced are very transitory, the poisons finding a ready exit from the 
b °S’ A11 the evils of smoking are functional in character, and no confirmed smoker can 
ever' belaid soTong as he indulges in the habit, to be well; it does not follow, however, 
that he s becoming the subject of organic and fatal disease because he smokes 
‘‘ 4 Smoking produces disturbances: (a) In the blood, causing undue fluidity, and 
* . , ^ P i _. c/,\ rm the s fomctch giving rise to debility, nausea, and in 
change in the red corp >■ ( ) producing debility of that organ, and irregular 
of he’eve contusion of vision, bright lines, luminous or cobwebspeeksandlongreten- 
fnn of Tmnnes on the retina; with other and analogous symptoms affecting the ear, 
tion of images on t definebounds and the annoyance of a sharp ringing sound like 
rwhifue ma bell (e) on the brain suspending the waste of that organ and oppressing 
a wmstie or a ueu , :c u v, p pxhausted: ( f ) on th q nervousJila- 
Veits and wlpSk or manic nerves, leading to deficient power in them, and to over- 
Si^Xse a a n c d°“ g aai 
$2 Smoker’s S sore-throat--r e dnessf dryness^ and^occasioual peeling off of the mem- 
tonsils—smotors sore in » and contract fon, or sponginess of the gums; 
(I) n on theVoncLf surface of the lungs when that is already irritable, sustaining the 
irritation and increasing the cough. ^ smoke causes specific diseases, such as 
insanity,^pfiepsy, St Vitu,^’^ce, apoplexy, S 
Snce’“fac^Xsuch statements are devoid of truth, and can never accomplish 
th r 6 b ^\t C h«m h an e h:dy 0 ^ISiSSn full vigour by its capacity, within 
