Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-12-07
Toban.A

NJ Buley Is at the head Of French
association whose object is to decry the
use OF tobacco, and the title of the or
ganization is ia Sociste CoptFe Abus
de Tabac." The weed Is invefghed
against in it's economic and hygenic as
poets. France spends every year In to-
bacco 352, ,548, 900 francs. or about $780,.
100000. Before 1880 frsSch people
were only moderate smokers, though
great snuffers. but since that period,
though snufing has sensibly diminished.
smoking has enormously increased.
Chewing is rare in France, being con-
sidered as q coarse habit carriers and
sailors only being masticators of the
weed. In France the Government, rec
ognizing how universal is the habit of
smoking, gives every one OF her soldiers
for his smoking tobacco. tabac de can
tine, for which he 10 charged only three
cents. To provide the soldier with to-
bacco Is considered BY some French
military authorities as almost neces-
sity. In Gen. Brack's '.Traite des Av-
ant Poste8', he insists that the cavalry
soldier shtAld cultivate the use of tobsc-
GO, as il makes him more alert and In
different to hunger or thirst. In oppo-
sition to this, Dr. Blanchet, an army
surgeon, insists that, inqHiring into the
effects of smoking in the ranks, the ILL
ness of MANY men could be traced to the
abuse of tobacco. 1t produced ulcers
of the lips, the mouth, tongue and nose,
necrosis, gastralgia, gastritis, and en-
teritis, with vertigo. mental debility.
and even transient attacks of mania. II
should be noticed that the French sur
geon cites all these ills as arising from
the abuse of tobacco. Sir Benjamin
Brodie thought that tobacco in modera-
ton acted as a sedative on the nervous
system, especially when in condition
of excitement, worry, or physical fa-
tgue, but that its abuse brought with
it many terrible diseases. Experiences
in our civil war induced the same con-
clusion. Over-use of any stimulant In
hurtful, and there are many men strict
ly temperate. who were not smokers
| who are suffering to-day from nervous
diseases brought on by the oyer-use oi
strong coffee, taken by them when in
service. Is cigaret smoking hurtfulp-
That is a question often discussed. We
are to-day among the great cigare
| smokers Of the world. If cigarets be
prejudicial to health, it must arise from
the paper. Now, this paper can be
nothing else than pure lignose or wood
fibre. II it were made Of hemp, there
might possibly arise some source o.
danger to the smoker, though it is qaitt
unlikely that any of the pernicious quail
tiles of hemp would survive the manu-
featuring processes paper pulp is pu
to. Such pyroligneous Installations a
come from the paper could hardly b.
more hurtful than those arising from th'
tobacco itself. Where the danger o
cigarets arises is from their cheapness
which permits too many of them to b
smoked, and because they are gettins
into use by urchins of all ranks who ar
not more than 10 years old. Smoking
when indulged in by boys is as PERM
cious habit as If they commenced II
tipple. It stunts their growth, destroy
digestion, obscures vision, and render
ing them nervous, induces them to seel
such stimulants as can be found in alco
holic fiuids.-Nesc York Times.