An occasional paper of the British Anti-Tobacco Society / by Wm. Hardwicke ... embracing the recent researches of M. Jolly on tobacco smoking in France.

  • William Hardwicke
Date:
[Between 1865 and 1869?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An occasional paper of the British Anti-Tobacco Society / by Wm. Hardwicke ... embracing the recent researches of M. Jolly on tobacco smoking in France. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tobacco, and an alkaloid called nicotin—both these substances are poison¬ ous—besides which carbonate of ammonia and other gases are given off in the combustion of tobacco, and can be detected in the smoke. Ono drop of the oil of nicotine will kill a cat. The Hottentots kill snakes with it—a simple infusion taken inwardly causes death. These prin¬ ciples vary in different kinds of tobacco. The Virginia and the Kentucky are the strongest; the tobaccos of Turkey and the Levant contain very little nicotine. The Havanna and Brazils cigars contain less than 2 per cent. The ashes forming the residue of combustion contain phosphates, sulphates, carbonates, chlorides of sodium, calcium, and magnesium, with small traces of silica and alumina. There are three methods of using tobacco—smoking, chewing, and snuffing. The Turkish and Dutch pipes have the advantage of depriving the smoke of some of its empyreumatic oil, and rendering it less injurious The cigars and cigarettes act frequently very injuriously, the juice of tobacco producing by swallowing, local irritation of the gums and lips ; the teeth become yellow, and the enamel damaged. According to M. Leroy, the abuse of tobacco engenders cancer of the lips, which has become more frequent of late years. The statistics of cancer of the lip figure rarely in females while they stand very high in males. He says cancer of the tongue, as well as cancer of the lips, deserves the name of “ smoker’s cancer,” its cause being nearly always the abuse of the pipe, especially the short pipe, from which the smoke enters the mouth warm and acrid. I have seen well marked cases. While, however, only rare instances occur of fatal or organic mischief from tobacco, the general disturbance of health arising from excess of tobacco smoking is not uncommon. The normal or healthy condition of every vital function is perverted, feeble and irregular actions of the heart ensue, dyspepsia with stomach derangements—indicated by thirst, impaired appetite, and craving for stimulants—mal-nutrition and bad assimilation of food are shown by the pale and sallow countenance and spare habit, often accompanied by muscular debility with tremors : whilst the shattered state of the nervous system is indicated by loss of memory, feeble volition, and dull perception. It appears established by medical statistics that diseases of the brain and nervous system are increasing in a frightful degree, indeed, the coincidence is somewhat striking that mental diseases, softening of the brain, and spinal marrow, general and progressive paralysis, also certain cancerous diseases of the lips and tongue run a parallel course of increase with the state revenue derived from the tax on tobacco in France.1 The progressive movement of the population is arrested in proportion as the figures increase which represent the consumption of tobacco. The mischievous effects of tobacco have become particu¬ larly manifest in France since the habit of smoking has predominated over that of snuff-taking, for although snuff-taking is not exempt from danger it is far from attacking the general health as the pipe and cigar. M. Jolly avers that the day when France as a nation com¬ menced to smoke, she began to poison herself. There are many persons who experience the effects of tobacco on en¬ tering a room closely impregnated with tobacco smoke, they complain of headache, nausea, fainting, sickness, and purging. There are conflict-
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