Revelations about tobacco : a prize essay on the history of tobacco, and its physical action on the human body, through its various modes of employment / by Hampton Brewer.

  • Brewer, Hampton.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Revelations about tobacco : a prize essay on the history of tobacco, and its physical action on the human body, through its various modes of employment / by Hampton Brewer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Tn small doses tobacco causes a sensation of beat and dryness of tbe month and fauces. By repetition, or in larger doses, it acts as a diuretic, and sometimes causes diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting, with a sensation of giddiness and depression; but its most remarkable effect, and that for which it has been most frequently employed in medicine, is its power of producing relaxation of muscular fibre. In excessive doses its effects are of the same kind, though magnified greatly in degree. It produces extreme languor, the pores of the skin emit a cold clammy perspiration, entire loss of, or double, vision, excessive depression of the vascular system (the pulse being almost imperceptible), trembling of the limbs, convulsive movements, threaten- ing paralysis, and death. I will give you in detail, in illustration,, some of the symptoms I have enumerated, by relating the effect that smoking once had upon myself, although I am well aware that mine is by no means a peculiar case. One- evening, during the time of my sojourn in London as a medical student, I was seated at the fire-side with two habitual smokers, and at their instigation, joined them in the act of smoking. At first it had rather a pleasant soothing effect, but the taste I disliked exceed- ingly. Having finished my pipe* I laid it aside, and we chatted together for a short time : when, quite suddenly, my salivary glands poured out an excess of saliva; at the same time I felt a peculiarly dis- tressing sinking sensation at the pit of my stomach, with an odd creeping all over my body, and my skin was covered with a cold perspiration. I felt frightened, and rose to go to bed, but faltering in the attempt, my companions who discovered it caught me, or I should have fallen on the floor. I fancied I was dying, and found it quite impossible to lift my hand to wipe my face. After lying on my bed for some time I recovered slowly, and can truthfully say that I have not touched a pipe since, nor do I ever intend to do so again. I think it right to add that I had not taken any spirits or beer prior to smoking, so that the effects produced were solely caused by tobacco. In answering my second question, I remark that the uses of tobacco may be divided into two primary heads. First, It is used medicinally ; and Second, As a luxury, or rather, as a means of satisfying one of man’s unnatural cravings. Its use for medicinal purposes is very limited, as in many cases its
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