Plymouth banner. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1852-1855, 1854-06-22
What we do not Eat.-T0bgCc0.

OF ulEt ana de!ty. III nothing, perhaps
is this more evident, than in his use OF
tobacco. Il does not appear strange
that man should, by degrees. become
accustomed to eat and relish bitter plant
which al first he rejected with loaihng,
but that he should take some drug like
tobacco, set it on fire. and make his
mouth fire pump. to draw in and force
ont tie smoke. is indeed more than pas
sing strange, ''tis wonderful. 1t is no
less fantastlealfy dr0ll, that he should
grind up this same drug into powder and
! feed his nose with it, when reason and
instinct require that organ to be kept pro-
foundly clean, for the purpose of enjoy
ing natures incense on the dewy morn,
aud for giving 'utterance clear 10 vocal
sounds Perhaps there is little more
reason on the side of our universal ma,
tlonal characteristics. 'che Wig the weed
and splitting ont the juice. but this la bit,
too, Is no less strange than either Of the
other two. But strange as these things
are. the surprise would not be srea; If IS
use was cOuGned 10 small mum
Der of the human family. but instead
Of this being The case. there is perhaps
40 other drug more universally. and ex-
tensiyely used in one form or another, BY
Goth civilized anl savage men
The his;ory-rise ana progress of tie
cultivation and Use Of tobacco is more
like romance than plain unysrnished
record of an inauima;e, bitter vegetable
production. 1t derives is naIne-Nico-
tina T0bacam-from Jean Nicot, an
agent OF the Hing of France, who sent
some OF its seeds from Florida 10 Fiance
in 1860, and from Tobacco in Yucatan.
from which it was first sent tc Sp5in.-
1t is generally held to be native of
America indigenou 10 lis tropical re
6ion>. Some. however, have doubted
This. and consider it to be native Of
both Africa and Asia. as savages have
been found using it far in the interior Of
these continents; hence some modern
travellers say. ii is Impossible to con-
ceive that lis use and cultivation could
have spread over sucn an extent of the
old world, as il has since the New World
was discovered.' b this as il may, the
fact is unques,ionahle that 1t WAS un
known in Europe prior io the discovery
OF our continent, ent the inference is, that
if 1t had been known TO the inha bitants
Of Africa and Asia. it would surely, from
the old established trade with these coun-
tries. have found its way at earlier pc
riod-such as during The Roman Empire
into Europe. Ii IVES introduced into
Spain and France from America in the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century. and into
England by Sir Francis Drake in 1856.
Since that time it has spread in the
east into Turkey. Persia, India, China,
Australia. the PHILIPPINE Islands, aid ia
pan. Ii has been raised with success also
in neatly every country in Europe; it is
cultivated in Egypt, Algeria. in the Ca
naries. and "a the Cape of Good Hope -
Ii is, indeed, among narcotics what the
potaioe is among food plants--,Ee most
extensively cultivated, the most hardy.
and the most tolerant Of change in tenn
perature. altitude. and general climate.
When it was first introduced into Eu
rope its use was opposed by Pope. Kai
ser, and King. but although the knout
was threatened for The first offence in
using it. and death Tor The second. in Rus
sid, it has marched over these enactments.
and esta blished itself in the Imperial Pal
ace-Czar Nicholas being now an inv etc
rate user of the wecd. Pope Urban the
VIII. thundered out bull against it
james the l.--pragma;ical Jamie-wroie
a coun.erblast against it, aud both priest
and pastor denounced it from altar and
pulpit. But what signified the opposi
tion Of king and priest. to tobacco-i;
has conquered them all. Larger quanti-
ties of ii are now grown in France, than
any other vegetable; the Dutchmen-high
and !ow--seldom have the pipe out of
their mouths. and in Persia and Turkey.
where smoking was declared sin against
religion, the people have become the grea-
test smokers in the world. In India all
classes smoke; in China the practice is so
universal that every female from the age
OF eight or nine years, wears as al appen-
doge TO her dress. small silken pocke
to hold tobacco and pipe.
Ii has been calculated that no less than
1000, 600 tons of tobacco are grown an
nually on our globe. and no less than
1873, ,762 GIG bs..--S3, ,532 luns--by the
census of 1850, of that in the United
States.
In 1862. the quantity raised in Virgin
ia was 60. 900 lbs; and the quantity ex-
ported in 1859 only 100000 lbs, while
now the whole product of the country is
more than thousand times greater. and
from present indications its use and cul.
tivation are becoming more general every
day, for while it was cultivated in none
of the Northern States. few years ago
no less than $4,000 lbs. were raised III
1850. We do no. really know what les
son we can learn from ;he extraordinary
history Of tobacco. Medical and other
men have written against il. but seem To
have urged nothing very specific. excep-
ting this. that as nicotine. &c. 10. III. Z,
o. . the same elements as sugar but COM
bned i'll different proportions) the active
principle of tobacco. is poisonous i'll ITS
isolated form, the use of tobacco must De
injurious. The experience of mankind
does not confirm this conclusion, excep-
ting in cases of excessive use which