Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1871-11-04
People who should not smoke


Of smoking tobacco, in ths F001
Journal, DR. L, b, Gray asks
"ls smoking ihjurious,' This i
an everyday question apt 10 DO put
by patients 20 their dostOrs, Like
. ! most broad questions of tho kind,
il involves far too many consider
atiOns To admit Of being answered
by a plsin Yes or no, A medical
man. who has long been moderate
smoker, aud watched the effect Of
the habit on himself aud others,
here offers what no believes To DO
the true answer to the question.
First Of all, there must be an un'
derstanding about the quality of
the tobacco 10 be smoked. Bad, /, e.,
rank, quickly intoxicating, and
prostrating tobacco Certain kinds
OF shag and cay5ndish, for instance
must always be injurious. Few can
smoke them at all-none, habilu-
ally at least, with impunity, So
too with regard to quantity, even
good tobacco smoked 10 excess will
to certainty be injurious to tho
smoker, sooner or later, in some
way or another. OF tho various
evil effects Of excessive smoking
more will be said presently.
Next, rs to the smokers. There
are people TO whom any tobacco,
however smoked, is simply poison,
causing even in small doses vornit-
ing, pallor and alarming prostra.
tion. Such people never get sea.
soncd to its effects, oven after re-
peatcd trials and if they are wise
they will forever let il alone. They
will display, still farther wisdom
by not presuming TO make laws for
Others who have not the same i'd
iosyncrasy. "i
No one can enjoy smoking, or
smoke with impunity, when out of
health. The phrase "out Of health"
though il may sound vague, is de.
finite enough to frame a general
rule. At the same time II is useful
to know what, ifany, are the par
ticUlar disorders and conditions of
health in which tobacco does special
harm. As far rs the writer's knowl-
edge goes, these have never been
specified by medical writers rs clear
! ly as is desirable.
To begin, man with a bad ap.
petite will, if he smoke, most as
surdIy eat still lcss-a noteworthy
fact for smokers or oth ors recover
ing from wasting illness or soft
their food" from whatever cause.
This effect of tobacco, by the way,
while an evil to the sick man who
cannot eat enough, becomes boon
to the starved man who cannot get
enough to cat; an ample iliustra-
ton OF this was furnished among
the French and German soldiers in
the recent war;, Again, no man
should smoke, who has u dirty
tongue, bad taste in his mouth, or
week or disordered digestion. In
any such case he cannot relish his
tobacco. 1t sbonld be golden rule
with smokers, that the pipe or cigar
which is not smokcd with relish
had better not be smoked al ALL |
Indigestion in every shape is ag.
grevated by smoking, but most cs7
pccially that form Of it commonly |
known as atomic and accompanied
with fatulcnce. Diarrca, as u rule,
is made worse by smoking.
One of the commonest and earli-
est 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,
persons, namely, who have weak,
unsteady nerves, and suffer from
giadiness, confusion of sight, trem-
ulous hands, tendency to stanme
or any such symptoms. And if to.
bGcco does harm in mere functual
weakness, still less allowable is it
in actual organic disease of the ner-
vous system as fer instance where
there exists any degree of paralysis
or other sign of degencrative change
in the brain or spinal cord. The
improper use of tobacco does ber
yond question somehow. interfere
with due nutrition of nerve sub
stance. An illustration of this, IA
miliar to oculists and medical men,
is the so,caled tobacco-amaurosls,
a failure of vision occurring in ex-
cessive smokers from mal-nutrition
OF tbe retina. Another class of per-
sons who ought not to smoke are
those who have weak or unsteady
circulatiops and complain of such
troubles as palpitation, cardiac pain.
intermittent pulse, habitually cold
hands and feet, or chronic, languor
LASTLY, there is reason for believ-
ing that the habitual use of tobacco
is likely to retard the due growth
and development of the body. If
so, no one should become o smoker
till he is well past the period of pu-
berty. Boys, moreover, have no
excuse for smoking for they are
spared the ha d wear and tear of
adult life.
Now, after eliminating those who
from idiosyncrasy cannct, and those
who from bodily aiment or from
tender years should not smoke,
there will still always be a large
residuum of happy folk who, can
smoke, enjoy smoki' /, and are in:
deed the better for j These are they
who use tobacco yithout abusing
it-use. it, that ! N say, in moder-
ate quantity, ! due season, and
honestly for 4 , sake of the comfort
which it gives them-a comfort /
every bit as legitimate as that which
thinkers of tea, coffee. or wine ex- !
ract in each case from their favor ,
tie beverage. /,
A few words on each of these ,
points. By moderate smoking is {