Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1882-11-09

away his cigar and the pugilist his
plug when they go into training. This
is the smokers frank confession, that
tobacco robs him of strength, that be
is in better condition without it; he
cannot smoke when he would be at
his best, when he would have every
nerve and muscle at its steadiest. But
is there ever a time when it is not
worth while for a man to be at his
best? Success in the supreme endeav-
or of life would seem to be worth as
much as success in a prize ring or
regatta. and by the same system of
analogy it is evident that if the stu
dent would be at his best he must put
away his cigar
''All our professional men should
know that the i'll effects of tobacco
upon the system are less easily OBJ
served and more insiduous than is
usually supposed. [ am sure that
the habit is incompatible with great
and long continued intellectual activi-
ty and since we physicians know its
harm physioIogically, it appears to
me that it is our duty to discourage
habit that is not conducive to health
and that we are criminal if we give
countenance to habit which is known
to engender nervous troubles of a
very serious kind. Professional men
and students should be made more
fully aware than they sometimes are
of the tendency of the habit and it's
results"
During the last ten or fifteen years
the consumption of tobacco his so in
creased, especially among young peo-
pie, that we can hardly hope to com
prehend its influence. 1t is my belief
that its use among the young cannot
be too strongly condemned very few
students who make free use of tobac-
CO stand at the head of their classes"
sit is not often that one great
catastrophe overthrows the mental
health of the student; it is the con-
slant recurrence of unfavorable cir
cumstances or acts, the gradual accu-
mutation of adverse surroundings. the
steady disregard of healthful condi-
tons, which heap misfortune upon the
individual; the often repeated disre-
gard Of the common laws of hygiene,
deviations from established principles,
the thousand and one little things
which tend to depress vitality and pro-
duce disease, all these are the operat-
ing causes, and prominent among them
stands the increasing use Of tobacco
among the younger students at the
present time"
''Nervous prostration and strong
tendency to the use of stimulants and
narcotics as alcohol and opium are
among the evils likely to overtake the
student Of tobacco using habits
Gan unsound mind is ever the out |
come of an unsound body, caused by
violation of law committed through
ignorance, which was not accepted,
however, as reason for exemption
for the penalty. What seems needful
for the medical profession to teach at
the present time is how best to main
tain the mental faculties in a state of
health. The insiduous effects of the
tobacco habit should be pointed out
and kept in mind if we would look to
the welfare of the professional man
and student, and to the welfare of
society at large. The youth of our
land should be taught that the use of
tobacco arrests the growth and devel-
opment Of the body, producing low.
dwarfsh stature, pallid and sallow hue
of the surface, insufficient and IN
healthy supply of blood, and diminu-
ton of both bodily and mental power.
Children should under no circum-
stances be allowed to use tobacco in
any form. "
Here we close our extracts from the
abundant testimony given by our nu-
merous correspondents The follow
ing conclusion appear to be established
as the judgment of the representative
thinking portion of the medical men
of Wisconsin, class including h far
the larger part of the profession
1st. That smoking, even in what is
usually considered moderation, is, to
say the least, injurious indirectly, |
most especially to the young, mas
much as it is notorious that the habits
of drinking and smoking are very init
mattel J associated, and that the prac-
tice of the latter may easily lead to
the former-that the use of tobacco
may become an inducement to the ex-
cesslve use of Intoxicating liquors,
with all its accompanying evil results.
I'd That beginning the use of to-
bacco in early life cannot be too str ny
ly condemned as producing most per-
nicious effects upon the constitution
of the young. and as impairing greatly
if not wholly destroying. the chances
of success as students and scholars.
Sd That whatever may be said in
favor of the use of tobacco in moder-
alton. its employment in excess, es
pecially if long persisted in. is injuri-
Gus to any one, physically, mentally
and morally.
EI Hood, scarfs, ribbons and any
fancy articles can be made any color
wanted with the Diamond Dyes. All |
the popular coiors
piles