The Lincoln County herald., 1871-11-30
Who Should Not Smoke.


us smoking injurious ?" This is an
every day question, apt to be put by pa.
tients to their doctors. Like most broad
questions Of the kind, it involves far too
many considerations to admit Of being
answered by q plain yes or no. A med !.
ical man, DR.. Il. B. Gray, who has long
been moderate smoker, aud watches the
effect Of the habit on himself aud on
others, hero offers what he believes to be
the true answer to the question. ut.
First Of all. there must be az under
standing about the quality Of the tobacco
to be smoked. Bad, i. g., rank, quickly
Intoxicating and prostrating tobacco, (oer
tain'klnds Of shag aud cavendish, for IN
stauce) must always be injurious. Few
can smoke them at all--none habitually, j.,
at least with impunity. So, too, with
regard to quantity; even good tobacco
smoked to excess will, to certainty, be
injurious to the smoker soon or later, 10
eom> w~y o. enothor. OF tho various
evil effects of excessive smoking mors
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, vomi ing, pallor, aud
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 dis
play still further wisdom by not presum
ing to make laws for others who have not
the same idosyncracy.
No one can enjoy smoking or smoke
with iupunity, when out Of health. The
phrase "out Of health" though 1t may
sound vague, 10 definite enough to frame
a general rule. At the samo time it is
useful to know, what, if any, are the par.
tcular disorders aud condition of health
in which tobacco does special harm. As
far as the writer's knowledge goes, these
have never been specified by medical
writer's us clearly as is desirable.
TO begin, man with a bad appetite
will, if he smokes, most assuredly eat
still less "A note worthy fact for smokers
or others recovering from a wasting ill
ness or "of their beds" from whatever
cause. This effect of tobacco, by the
way, while an evil to a sick man who
cannot eat enough, becomes boon to the
starved man who cannot get enough to
eat; uu ample illustration of this was
furnished among the French and German
soldiers in the recent war Again. no
man should smoke who has q dirty
tongue, bad taste in his mouth, or q
weak or disordered diges,ion. In any
such case he cannot relish his tobacco.
1t should be golden rule with smokers.
that the pipe or cigar which 10 not
smoke ed with ralish had halter not be
smoked at ALL Indigestion in every
shape is aggravated by smoking, but
most especially that form Of it commonly
known as atomic and accompanied with
1atulence. Diarrhes, as a rule, is made
worse by smoking
Ono Of the cOmmonest and earliest
effects Of excessive or untimely smoking
is to make the hand shake This gives
the clue to another class Of persons who
ought not to smoke--psrsons, namely,
who have weak, unsteady nerves, and
suffer from gddlness, confusion Of sight,
tremulous hands, tendency to stammer,
or any such symptoms. And if tobacco
does harm id mere functional weakness,
still less allowable is it in actual organic
disease of the nervous system as, for
instance, where there exists any degree
Of paralysis or other sign of degensrative
change in the brain or spinal cord. The
improper use OF tobacco does beyond
question somehow interfere with duo nu.
triton of the nerve substance. An illustra.
ton Of this, familiar to oculists and med.
ical men, is the SO called tobacco amour
osis, . failure Of vision occurring in ex.
cossive smokers from NAL. nutrition Of the
retina. Another class OF persons who
ought not to smoke are those who have
weak or unsteady circulation. and com
plain Of such troubles as pal pitation, car
diac pain, intermittent pulse, habitually
cold hands and feet, or chronic languor
Lastly there is reason for believing
that the habitual use Of tobacco is likely
to rstard the due growth and Develop
meut Of the body. If 80, no one ahouId
become smoker till he is we'll past the
period Of puberty. Boys, moreover, have
no excuse for smoking, for they are spared
the hard wear and tear of adult life.
Now, after eliminating those who from
idiosyncrasy cannot, aud those who from
bodily ailment or from tender years
should not smoke, there will still always
be large residum of happy folks who
can smoke, enjoy smoking, and are 10.
deed the better for it. hese arc those
who use tobacco without abusing it-use
it, that is to say, in moderate quantity in
due season, aud honestly for the sake of
the comfort which it gives them "a com.
fort every Bit "a legitimate as that which
drinkers of tea. coffee or vine extract in
each case from their flvCrite beverage
A clergyman at Council Bluffs, Iowa,
has made new departure in the matter |
of '"hitching up" folks. He has swept
away the old established rules of marry
ing for fee. and announces that he shall