The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-10-19
Peonle who should not Smoke.

In an article on the medical aspect of
smoking tobacco in the Food Journal,
DR.. e. B. Gray asks:
els smoking injurious% This is an
every day question apt to be put by
patients to their doctors. Like most
broad questions of the kind, it involves
far too many considerations to admit of
being answered by plain yes or no. A
medical man, who has long been o mod
crate smoker, and watched the effect OF
the habit on himself and Others, here
offers what he. believes to be the true
answer to the question.
First of all, there must be an under
standing about the quality of the tobac-
co to be smoked. Bad-namely, rank,
quickly intoxicating, and prostrating
tobacco (certain kinds of shag and caven-
dish, for instance) must always be in
furious. Few can smoke them at all
none, habitually at least-with i'm
punity. So, too, with regard to quantity,
even good tobacco smoked to excess will
to certainty be injurious to the smoker,
sooner or later, in some way or other.
OF the various evil efforts of excessive
smoking, more will be said presently.
Next, as to the smokers. There are
people to whom any tobacco, however
smoked, is simply poison, causing, even
in small doses, vomiting, pallor, and
alarming prostration. Such people
never get seasoned to its effects, even
after repeated trials; and if they are
wise, they will forever let it alone. They
will display still further wisdom by not
presuming to make laws for others who
have not the same idiosyncrasy.
No one can enjoy smoking, or smoke
with impunity, when out of health. The
phrase "out of health" though it may
sound vague, is dc finite enough to frame
a general rule. At the same time, it is
useful to know what, if any, are the
particular disorders and conditions oi
health in which tobacco does special
harm. AS far as the writer's knowledge
goes, these have never been specified by
medical writers as clearly as is desirable
To begin, q man with bad appetite
will, if he smoke, most assuredly eat still
less-a noteworthy fact for smokers OF
others recovering from wasting illness
or "off their feed from whatever cause
This effect of tobacco by the way, while
an evil to the sick man who cannot ea
enough, becomes boon to the starved
man who cannot get enough to eat
an ample illustration of this was furnish
ed among the French and German
soldiers in the recent war. Again, NJ
man should smoke who has dirt.
tongue, bad taste in his mouth, or
weak or disordered digestion. In an.
such case, he cannot relish his tobacco
1t should be golden rule with smokers
that the pipe or cigar which is no
smoked with relish had better not b
smoked at all. Indigestion in ever,
shape is aggravated by smoking, bu
most especially that form of it common
ly known as atomic and accompanied
with hatulence. Diarrh9a, as a rule, j
made worse by smoking.
One of the commonest and earlies
effects of excessive or untimely smokin
is to make the hand shake. This give
the clue to another class of persons VIII
ought not to smoke-persons, namely
who have weak, unsteady nerves, an
suffer from giddiness, confusion of sigh
tremulous hands, tendency to stammel
or any such symptoms. And if tobacc
does harm in mere functional weakness
still less allowable is it in actual organi
disease of the system as, for instanc
where there exists any degree of ofparalys
or other sign of degenerative change
the brain or spinal cord. The impropt
use of tobacco does beyond questio
somehow interfere with due nutrition (
nerve substance. An illustration of thi
familiar to oculists and medical men,
Ah1 Inl %nh a fpI
ure of vision occurring in excessi,
smokers from mal-nutrition of the retin
Another class of persons who ought NJ
to smoke are those who have weak {
unsteady circulations and complain
such trouble as palpitation, cardit
pain, intermittent pulse, habitually col
hands and feet, or chronic languor.
Lastly, there is reason for believin
that the habitual use of tobacco
likely to retard the due growth and d
velopment of the body. If so, no OIL
should become a smoker till he is we
past the period of puberty. Boys, NOR
over, have no excuse for smoking, f
they are spared the hard wear and tel
of adult life.
Now, after eliminating those wi
from idiosyncrasy cannot, and those WI
from bodily ailment or from tend
years should not smoke, there will st
always be large residuum of happy fo
who can smoke, enjoy smoking, end a
indeed the better for it. These are tn
who use tobacco without abusing it
use it, that is to say, in moderate qua
tity, in due season, and honestly for t
sake of the comfort which it gives the
"a comfort every bit as legitimate
that which drinkers of tea, coffee,
wine extract in each case from tht
favorite beverage.