Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1882-08-25
The Use Of Tobacco.

lhe following, from the Family Hysician
all English publication, will be of interest
to those who are looking for an apology for
what is regarded by many as 4 questionable
habit:
by the use of tobacco some people seem
apie almost to llberate the mind from the
trammels of the body, and to give it a free
range anu more undisturbed liberty of ac-
tlon. BulWer, in his "Night and Moniur.m
eNclalms, "a pipe! it is great comforter. 4
pleasant soother! Blue devils ny before its
honest breath ! 1t ripens the brain, it opens
the heart, and the man who smokes thinks
Ike Il sage and acts like Samaritan.
mere IS no want Of testimony in favor of
tho use of the drug The ''souvcrainc weed
as Spenser calls it. has been extensively
!auded both in prose and verse. Kingsley.
III Westward IIo" speaks of it rs "a lone
mans companion, Il bachelors friend, 4
hungry mans food, sad mal,s cordial. 4
Wakclul mans sleep and II chilly mans
l!rc Old Hobbies of Malmcsb,lrv. the
HIST and clcarcst Of English philosophers.
regularly had his twelve pipes Il day.
ana Kept to it till he was nearly as
old as old l'arr himself. Robert Hall, the
most eloquent OF English preachers, and
John Foster, the most original of English
essaylsts, were smokers; Campbell WAS Il pat
ron OF the weed, and Byron $ lines to sub
I'me Tohacco' arc as well known as Camp
ncllS address to the ''pungcnt nose refresh
ln% weed" Sir Walter Raleigh took it to
inc day OF his death, for Aubrey says He
tooke Il pipe Of tobacco little before he
went to the scailolde, which some female
persons were scandalizcd at, but think it
tn of In Ia,
1hackery was u great admircr of the weed
and in one ofhis essays says that he would
rather smoke up the chimney than not
smoke at all. Is the use oftobacco iniuri
Gus to the health? This is Il question
Which is very difficult to answer. By the
non-smokers it is said that it CAUSES blind
ness. palpitation Of the heart, PARALYSIS. dis
eases of the teeth, mouth and tongue. dvs-
bowel. Inc SMOKERS, on inc OTHER malta,
assert that you may smoke to all eternity
without III the slightest degree njuring
your health-in fact, you are rather likely
to improve it.
OfcOurSc, no one doubts for i moment that smuk
ing is Il very bad thing for boys, and that many of
the pallid, sickly looking lads one sees in the
streets with dirty short pipes in their mouths
would be benefited by a substitution Of Il fair
allowance of birch for tobacco. The weight Of
evidence is in favor Of the view that tobacco
smoked in moderation by full grown healthy
adults is not injurious to the system. We cannot
undertake to define the term "in moderation
each man must decide that for himself There
can be no doubt, however, that a man who lights
his pipe or cigar in the morning before breakfast
is decidedly ovcrstcpping the bounds of modcrl-
tiOn. Smoking in excess is undoubtedly Il very
harmful habit disordering digestion lessening the
appetite, inducing rcstlcssncss ut night with dis
agreeable dreams, and weakening both body and
mind. Sore throat and chrofic dyspepsia may
often be clearly traced to excessive smoking and
it will he found that the hlbitual smoker has gen
orally thickly coated tongue. There is one
thing to be said, however, and that is that the
symptoms quickly disappear when the habit is
discontinued.