Smoking, or, no smoking? That's the question / hear the late Sir Benjamin C. Brodie ; with critical observations / by "Scrutator," [sic] ; and extracts from an occasional paper of the British Anti-Tobacco Society / by Dr. Copland.

  • Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Baronet
Date:
[1861?]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Smoking, or, no smoking? That's the question / hear the late Sir Benjamin C. Brodie ; with critical observations / by "Scrutator," [sic] ; and extracts from an occasional paper of the British Anti-Tobacco Society / by Dr. Copland. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    9 after a long continuance, or a very early adoption of it. These injurious effects often do not appear until very late in life.” THE REJECTED MEMORIAL OF THE BRITISH ANTI-TOBACCO SOCIETY. To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Palmerston, First Lord of Her Majesty’s Treasury, &c., &c. We whose names are hereunto subjoined, earnestly invite your Lordship’s considerations of the following Memorial:— To observing men, and especially to many leading members of the Medical profession, it has, for a considerable time past, been apparent that the youthful population of our country has been gradually under¬ going very considerable physical deterioration, notwithstanding the many favourable existing circumstances, which, but for some greatly counteracting cause, or causes, would have produced a directly opposite result. One eminent member of the medical profession says, “ I have never before seen so many pale faces, small features, and slender figures, as at the present time; ” nor does this remark apply to any particular class of the community or to any particular locality. The discussion in the pages of the Lancet on the Tobacco question, in 1857, elicited from the Medical body a large amount of evidence on the physical and mental evils which are unmistakeably traceable to the practice of smoking, more especially when the habit is commenced early in life, and as “ youth is the flower of a nation,” your Memorialists deeply lament that a habit, which militates so much against its healthy cultivation to maturity, should be so generally practised among all classes of the rising race. By one of the writers in the Lancet, and one whose opportunities of acquiring information on the subject have been very extensive, it was said—“ If the habit of smoking continues to increase, as it has done during the last ten or twelve years, I believe that England will sink in the scale of nations.” On this particular feature of the question, your Memorialists feel that too much stress cannot be ]aid, inasmuch as one main source of a nation’s power is constituted by the physical energy of the people, and therefore the deduction is indisputable, that if smoking be a cause of detraction from physical energy, unless something be done to prevent the continuance, and rapid increase of this habit by the young, the ultimate decline of the nation is inevitable. These considerations, blended with the conviction that the subject lies within the province of the legislature, have induced your Memorialists to suggest to your Lordship, that in order to obtain the important Medical information which is necessary to deal with this question, in a manner commensurate to its magnitude, the appointmer of a Committee of the Honourable House, of which your Lordship a member, appears to be not only desirable, but also absolutely imperative, and we trust that your Lordship will concur in this Mew and take measures accordingly for such appointment. WELLCOME INSTITUTE LIBRARY ;v **•».*«**•,.. !1J we! mac London: F. Pitman, Paternoster Row. U:;:4 / s-g n