Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-11-22
DetOxicated Tobacco.
From the Scientific American

A correspondent, referring to our re-
cent article, "a Cigar Scientifically
Dissected," askes VIII ether there cannot
be some method whereby tobacco can
be rendered innocuous and vet have
its agreeable aroma preserved. The
fact that numerous attempts in this d.
rection have beer made, and yet there
is no substitute for tobacco and no de-
nicotinized tobacco in general use, is in
itself sufficient answer to the oues-
ton. It is the combination of poisons
which we enumerated which produce
the agreeable taste and smell, and to
remove any of the ingredients seems
simply to render the tobacco unpalata-
BILE.
Upon many persons coffee exercises
very deleterious influences; but they
can, and often do, drink a chicory in
fusion, which tastes very like that Of
the Arabian berry, though totally des-
titute of the aroma of coffee. Similar
ly it is possible that there may be some
vegetable which is sufficiently near in
SAVIOR to tobacco to render it valuable as
substitute or as an adulterant for the
genuine leaf; and it might be we'll for
botanists and chemists to undertake re-
searches with view to discovering the
same. Meanwhile the most successful
efforts to render tobacco less hurtful
have been those involving mechanical
means. The Turkish nargileh or water
pipe, in which the smoke is drawn
through water, is probably the least
harmful method of smoking practiced,
fact proved by the thick dark scum of
oil which appears on the water after use.
A nargileh is easily made out of wide
mouthed bottle. The tube attached to
the pipe bowl is led down beneath the
surface of the water which half fills the
vessel, and the smoke is withdrawn
through another tube, which enters the
empty space above the water. Numer-
Gus pipes have been patented in which
the smoke is filtered through cotton or
sponge, or led into a little chamber,
where the oil is deposited, and thence
withdrawn. Attempts have been made
to treat the smoke chemically during
it's passage through the filter. M. Fer
rier soaks the cotton in q solution of
tannin, and dries it in the air. The
tannin, he claims, retains the nicotine
in chemical com bination. French
chemists who have tested this plan are
widely at variance. Cahours confirms
Terriers experimental results, and says
that the nicotine is wholly removed.
Barral objects that nicotine is not ca
pable of uniting with tannin, and that
the latter substance is not less injurious
than nicotine. We do not find many
records of investigation in this branch
of the subject, and researches here also
might be valuable.
After the water pipe, the safest way
of using tobacco is to smoke a mild
quality in pipe made Of meerschaurn,
charcoal or porous unglazed clay. The
pipe bowl then absorbs the oils to a
considerable extent, as the coloring OF
pure white meerschaum plainly shows;
and the impurities should be frequent
ly burned out, or new bowls substi-
tuted, in order to keep the absorbent
qualities unimpaired. The most hurt
full method is the Cuban paper cigar
cite, where the deleterious fumes of
burning paper are added to those of
the exceedingly strong tobacco envel-
oped.
1t may be justly considered that in
some cases the use of tobacco is an
abuse; but it is equally true that devo-
tees of the weed have lived to the most
advanced ages, and that thousands ha-
bitually smoke without being able to
appreciate any deleterious results.
There is no standard, therefore, where
by the evil effects of the habit can be
gagged for everybody. DR.. Smith, some
years ago, read paper before the
British Association, in which he adj
duced experiments showing that while
tobacco smoking causes a large increase
in the pulsatiOn OF some persons, IN
others no increase whatever occurs
and hence he demonstrated a marked
diversity in the mode Of action of to
bacco on different systems. A typical
smoking experiment cited is that of a
man who began smoking pipe with the
pulse at 74.5 beats minute. In nine
to 112. Finally, at the end of half an
hour after the commencement of
smoking, it was at 88.5. For more
than two hours it remained above the
natural average of frequency and
force. In person Of full habit such
acceleration of the heart leads to apo
plexy. It is clear that, if in one midi
vidual tobacco is able to produce con-
ditions favorable to disease which
may kill at any moment. and in an
other is practically, inert, it is useless to
argue either that it is generally highly
dangerous, or, on the other hand, des-
titute of generous effects. AS we said
in our previous article, the ingredients
of tobacco are separately poisonous;
the probabilities are that they are col
lectively so in every case. But some
systems are strong enough to Withstand
their effects, either wholly or IN
part; and for every Individual to dis
cover whether his particular constitu-
ton belongs to this last class, involves
in all cases course of experiment in
learning to smoke which is universally
admitted to be one of the most unnat-
ural, nauseous and disagreeable exper-
fences of the human existence.
A New Story.
In No. AZ of the Chicago Ledger, of
date Nov. Is, commence highly IN
teresting serial story, bearing the title