Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1865-01-17

Its yapor is so irritating that it is difficult
to breathe in room in which single
drop has BEEN evaporated. The proper
ton of this substance contained in the dry
leaf of tobacco varies from one to eight
per cent. In smoking a hundred grains
OF tobacco, therefore, say quarter of an
ounce, there may be drawn into the mouth 2
two or more grains of enc Of the most sub.
tie OF all known poisons.
The empyreumatic oil is produced by
burning the tobacco in the pipe. 1t is dis
greeable to the taste, narcotic and poison
Gus. One drop applied to the tongue of a Is
cat has brought on commissions, and in two
minutes occasioned death. The Hotten-
tots XII snakes by putting drop of it on &
their tongues. = -
The form and construction of the pipe,
among other circumstances, influence the
proportion of these ingredients which the
smoke contains. In Turkish and East In.
dian pipes the smoke is made to pass gent
ly, bubbling through water, and thus ar,
rest large proportion of the poisonous
Vapors. The reservoir of the genuine Ger
man pipe likewise retains the grosser por-
tons OF the burning tobacco. The long
stem of the small Russian pipe has SINH
lar effect; while the cigar, especially if
smoked to the end, discharges directly in.
to the mouth of the smoker everything that
is produced by the burning. The more
rapidly the leaf burns and the smoke is
inhaled, the greater is. the proportion of
| the poisonous substances drawn into the
mouth. 1t is wise, therefore, to remember
| the lines,
"Learn tn smoka elour Tbo o.L.. =.
Not to smoke in other peoples faces
Persons who smoke short pipes are all
more or less affected by narcotic drunken
ness. The longer the stem, the greater is
the absorption OF the poisonous properties.
The absorbing power is what renders the
pure meerschaum so valuable to the con-
slant smoker. The tobacco Ghewer is act
ed upon more directly, and hence more
quickly lmPairs his appetite and weakens
his powers of digestion. The same remark
applies to the taker of snuff. Its a fact
worth remembering, that the proportion
| OF the poisonous 7s1cOttra is smallest in the
best Havana and largest in the French to-
baecoes. Hence the preference given to
the former by smokers
Tobacco is adulterated most commonly
by the addition of sugar, molasses and
honey, because these articles add both
weight and sweetness. Vegetable leaves,
as those OF rhubarb, the beech and the
walnut, moses, bran, liquor, rice, rosin,
sand, saltpetre, common salt and sal am
monlac are also among the authorizations.
An interesting point in connection with
the culture OF tobacco, is the fact that it is
the most exhausting plant to the soil
known. Tie dried leaf, when burned,
yields from nineteen to twenty-eight per
cent. of ash, or on an average every four
pounds of perfectly dry tobacco contains
one pound of mineral or incombustible
matter 1t. is this which forms the ashes
OF our tobacco pipes and the ends of our
burning cigars. The ingredients of this
ash are derived from the soil, and they be-
long to the class Of bodies which are at
once most necessary to vegetation and
least abundant even in fertile soils.
When it is remembered, therefore, that
every ton Of perfectly dry leaves carries off
from four to five hundred weight of this
mineral matter-as much as is contained
in fourteen tons of the grain Of wheat-it
will readily appear that the growing of to-
bacco must be a very exhaustive kind of
cultivation. One main reason will be seen
why tobacco plantations have in past times
gradually become so exhausted as to be
incapable in many instances Of being cul-
tivated with profit, and why the fortunes
of tobacco planters, even in naturally IA
vored regions, have gradually declined
with the failing fertility of their wearing
out plantations. 1t is one of the triumphs
of the chemistry Of the present century,
that it has ascertained what the land loses
by such imprudent treatment, and by what
new management its ancient fertility may
be restored, and thus new fortunes extract
ed from the same old soil.