Practical observations on the use and abuse of tobacco : greatly enlarged from the original communication on the effects of tobacco smoking which appeared in Medical Times and Gazette, August 5, 1854, accompanied with cases, illustrated by coloured plates, the drawings after nature / by John Lizars.

  • John Lizars
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical observations on the use and abuse of tobacco : greatly enlarged from the original communication on the effects of tobacco smoking which appeared in Medical Times and Gazette, August 5, 1854, accompanied with cases, illustrated by coloured plates, the drawings after nature / by John Lizars. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Sleeping within mine orchard, My ciiston> always of the afternoon, Upon niy secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hehenon in a vial, And in the porches of mine ear did pour The leperous distillmLnt: whose effect Holds such an enmity with blood of man, That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through The natural gates and alleys of the body ; And with a sudden vigour it doth posset And curd, like eager droppings into milk, The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine; And a most instant tetter bark'd about. Most lazar-like, with vilo and loathsome crust All my sinootii body. Hamlet, Act 1. Scene v. The oigar, especially if smoked to the end, discharges directly into the month of the smoker, every thing that is prodnced by the burning. Thus the more rapidly the leaf burns and the smoke is inhaled, the greater the proportion of the poisonous substances which is drawn into the mouth. And finally, when the saliva is retained, the fullest effect of all the three narcotic ingredients of the smoke will be produced upon the nervous system of the smoker. It is not surprising, therefore, that those who have been accustomed to smoke cigars, especially of strong Tobacco, should find any other ])ipe both tame and tasteless, except the short black cutty, which has lately come into favour among inveterate smokers. Such persons live in an almost constant state of narcotism or narcotic drunkenness, which must ulti- mately affect the health, even of the strongest. The chewer of Tobacco, it will be understood from the above de- scription, docs not experience the effects of the poisonous oil which is produced during the burning of the leaf. The natural volatile oil and the nicotin are the substances which act upon him. These, from the quantity of them which he involuntarily swallows or absorbs, impair liis appetite, and gradually weaken his powers of digestion. The same remarks apply to the taker of Snuff. But his drug is still milder than that of the chewer. During the first fermentation which the leaf undergoes in preparing it for the manufacturer of snuft', and again during the second fermentation, after it is ground, a large proportion of the nicotin escapes, or is decom^josed. The ammonia produced during these fermentations is partly the result of this decomposition. Further, the artificial drying or roasting to which Tobacco is exposed in fitting it for the dry snuffs, expels a portion of the natural volatile oil, as well as an additional portion of the natural volatile alkali or nicotin. Manufactured snuff, therefore, as it is drawn up into the nose, and especially dried snufi, is much less rich in active ingredients than the natural leaf.
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