The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-01-23

| company TO men 1t Is death to insects; and one
ofthe most Important uses of tobacco is that il
drives away and destroys marv insects that
would otherwise do great dt ii of damage.
Soldiers and others who have been reduced
to necessity, have found that in case of parch-
| ing thirst, tobacco causes the salivary glands
to secrete more plentfully and thus the thirst
is removed, or is atleast rendered more endura-
Ole: and 1t is further an undeniable fact that
persons who use tobacco can endure hunger
peter tnan these who do not use il. We some
times hear IL said that tobacco assists diges-
uon; thls may possibly be true but | am not
prepared to assert it as a SCI tied fact.
| Many persons say that they began the use of
tobacco because it was Recommended 10 them
as a means OF gaining relief from colds aud
toothaches; now fsuch relief is gained tb;s
may be granted as one OF the advantages of
tobacco. As civilization advances we fine
that tobacco has tendency towards MAKING
men more sociable, and hence the friends d1
civilization must not deny the advantage of
TOBACCO as one OF its agents. The Scotchman
1 would find himselfat loss, he were depriv-
| ed OF his snuff, which is his main dependence
for inviting friendly sneeze. Somewhat like
everything else the greatest fortunes in tobac-
co have been made by the small patents where
men, by very simple contriVances, have inyen-
| ted brands that have become Well.kuowu
throughout the whole world. Let those per
sons who have so much to say against tobacco,
remember how serviceable it is in paying the
4
AS an industry the tobacco factories support
| hundreds and thousands of persons who would
| otherwise be out of employment, and this is
particularly the case in countries that are bet
ter adapted to raising tobacco than they are to
anything else whatever.
Persons who are compelled to remain awake
at night frequently use tobacco to keep them
from becoming drowsys and then again others
who ind that they are restless and cannot 20
| to sleep invite repose by the use tobacco:
| possibly the same objection might be used
against this, that the satyt urged against the
man who in winter blew his breath upon his
| hands in order to make them warm, ard in
summer blew his breath upon mis- hands again
to make them cool. Tobacconists who find
their smell aud taste damaged console them
selves with the thought that they escape many
alsagreeable sensations, and TO say the least of
it they reason like philosophers
The ladies occasionally have word To saw
about tobacco, and it is not always complf-
ment&ry. heard of one a few DAYS since
who said that her husband was like a tallow
candle because he always smoked whenever
he went out. Another lady an advocate of
Womans Rights, once looked for a vacant seat
on the cars, she found one next to q good ma
tured man, though an entire stranger She
was so bitterly opposed to the weed, that she
was not willing even to sit next to anv man
that used 1t, so before taking her seat Eh e
looked the stranger squarely in the face and
asked him the searching question: "do YOU use
toeaceo?" The stranger not under standing her
fully answered. "No nam, do not but If Won
will Just wait minute | can get you chew"
Within the past few years it has been fire.
9uently ASKED II the slaves OF tobacco can stop
the use OF 1t altogether. This is a very inter
esting question which by the celebrated Dr. |
Frask and others has been answered in the
affirmative
In Natural History we are justified in saw
ing that so far as our knowledge ex tends there |
mil alc.,, ~,
worm that use tobacco, and neither of these ami
mails is willing to discontinue the use of il be-
cause he finds himself in such bad comnanv
My private opinion is that if any man or boy |
could visit tobacco factory and see the filthy.
place with its big black kettles filed with |
hquorlce, brown sugar water sweet oil, etc. |
with the white and black men women and |
children carrying the tobacco on their heads |
on and under their arms, and the hands run
ming over the piles of tobacco with their bare |
leet-l say that the man or boy who has had /
one such sight would be in need of a cast-iron
stomach before he could learn how to chew
tobacco.
And yet there is canon in philosophy that /
teaches US to search for truth at neither ex-
treme butte find itn the golden mean, hence in
our conclusions about tobacco we neither say
that 1t is the best nor the worst of Gods crea-
tons, bat that so far as we are concerned il
mas Its advantages as well as its disad vantages
Nor DO we stop to inquire whether tobacco is a |
stimuant or sedative although there is rea-
son for believing that it possesses both of
these properties.
Few things have been the occasion or rsth>
er the subject of as little poetry as tobacco
although many poets have seen airy fancies in
smoke, and we may even yet sometimes hear
that old and favorite song, 81 smoked my last
cigar"
Occasionally we hear it said that the ashes
from a line cigar makes an excellent tooth
powder, but this has not been proved to my
entire satisfaction,
II any nan wishes to make tobacco his espe-
c!al study he could scarcely do better than to
visit Lynchburg, Va, which is the centre of one
OF, II not the finest tobacco countries in the
world. Let him make his head Quarters AT
Friends warehouse and watch the iuuumer-
able wagon loads of tobacco that are always
coming in, then let him go with the crowd of
buyers and sellers inside of the warehouse
Where IL Is common thing to see as many as
a thousand hogsheads of all kinds Of tobacco.
Here he will have an opportunity of learning al
about the plant its culture, hab its, kinds
manufacture, commerce. and thousand 9th or
things that are full of interest.
Now for fear that | may try your patience
TOO long with this paper, | will close with a
quotation from the Encyclopedias Americana,
at the same time advising you to read the en-,
tire article, as it is worthy of your careful at
tention
TOBACCO, NICoTIANA rABAeUM-The in
PRODUCTION of the use of tobacco forms a sim
gular chapter In the history of mankind. and
1t may well excite establishment, that the dis
coyery in America of nauseous and poison
Gus weed Of an acrid taste and dIsagreeable
odor, IN short whose only properties are dele.
FERROUS, should have had so great an ipAu.
ence on the social condition of all nations: that
1t should have become an article of most ex-
tenslve commerce, and that Its culture should
have spread more rapidly than that of the
most useful plants. At the time of the dis.
coVery OF America, tobacco was in frequent
use among the Indians, and the practice of
smoking was common to almost all the tribes;
and they pretended to cure a great VARIETY Of
diseases by this plant Its introduction into
the eastern continent was everywhere marked
with rdicule and persecution. The book
written against il by James l. is well known:
but hundred others of same character were
published In various languages. Pope Urban
VIII. accommodated those who took tobacco
in churches; the empress Elizabeth also pro-
hibited its use in churches. In Transyvania
an ordinance was published in 1859 threaten
ing those who plant tobacco with the c0nfisca-
ton of their estate. The king of Persia and
the grand-duk of Morocco forbade its use
under the penalty of the loss of the nose, and
even of death. AT present the aspect Of az
talrs is SO much changed that all the sover
eggs OF Europe, and most of other parts Of
the world, derive 0onsiderab part of their
revenue from tobacco. Baron Won Humboldt
noo SuO" u tuAt tODdCCO was Jl6 term USED IN
the Hay tan language to designate the pipe or
instrument employed by the natives in smok.
ing the herb which term having been trans
terred by the Spaniards from the pipe to the
herb itself, has been. adopted by other nations"
Since writing the above, two important
facts in the current history of tobacco have
attracted my attention; but for fear of drawing
this paper to an undue length, l will content
myself with merely stating these facts, with
out entering into aDy discussion of them.
They are as follows: Recent scientific journals
state that the French Superintendent of Edu.
cation has become so thoroughly convinced
OF the injurious effects OF tobacco that he has
issued an order prohibiting the use of it by
persons attending the public schools of France
and again, the celebrated DIR. Aintsie, in his
clinical lectures, just published in the London
Lancet, assets that tobacco is not only injuri-
Gus to persons using it, but its very bad ef-
fects are transmissble to posterity.