The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1883-10-25
lAmeriean Reformer.1
Tobacco Doctors.
BY j. W. HODGE, NJ. D.

and pernlclOuS eXhlbltlOnS OF !uoueIn
inconsistency is furnished by the med
ical man who is addicted to the use OF
tobacco. That any human being
should, with "unblushing effrontery,
set himself up as an apostle OF the
healing art, while, at the same time,
by depraved indulgences and sensual
qualifications, he is habitually vlolat-
Inc the natural laws of life and health,
and setting a vicious example before
world looking to him as an exponent
Of physiological law, is sad evidence
of professional depravity. Moreover,
that such baneful incongruity be.
tween the profession and practice OF
the physician should be regarded gen
erally with such unaccountable non
chalance as to be tamely tolerated by
the Law public, while it merits their
most indignant censure and should
provoke from them the most trenchant
castigation, reminds the phllanthro..
pist that this filthy habit Is one OF
the phases of idolatry which as yet
remains uncriminated by public sentl-
ment. That the tobacco pest IS one
of the most grievous scourges or MOD
ern civilization no fairminded person
in the exercise of common intelligence
will attempt to deny. r..
The illustrious surgeon, Prof. hlg-
pinbottom, of Nottingham. England,
said: tobacco has no redeeming pro-
perty whatever, and 1T as man cause
Of running our young men, and rem
dering useless the best efforts OF min,
isters Of the gospel. The proverblal
drunkenness Of our country can only
be remedied by laying the axe at the
root of its superinducing cause-tne
thirst-creating power OF tobacco
smoking"
A. L. Gibbon, M. D., medical direct
or Of the Naval Academy at Annapo-
lis, writes: Tobacco-smoklng creates
a thirst for alcoholic stimnlants:, by
its depressing and disturbing effects
on the nerve centres, it determines
functional disease of the heart. I'M
pairs vision, blunts the memory. and
prevents mental application.
John Lizars, late Professor Of Sur
gerry in the Royal College OF Surgeons
Of Edinburg, wrote: "Tobacco-smok,,
creates ulcers on the lips. tongue and
tonsils; it produces vertigo, vomiting.
dyspepsia, piles, diseased liver, conges-
ton of the brain. apoplexy, palsy, loss
of memory, insanity, blindness, deaf
ness, and functional disease OF the
heart. ''ass4
Prof. Solly. senior operating sur
geon at st. Thomas Hospital, writes:
"I k,,ow of mo single Uice-schich does
so much harm as tobacco-smoking. 1t
is a snare and a delusioa.'
In the annual report of the Penn
sylvania Hospital for the Insane, pub
lished in 1876, seventeen cases of In
sanity are attributed to the use OF to-
bacco.
An eminent London physician
states that.a large percentage OF the
cases of Observation-Disclosures occur
ring suddenly during sleep-which
came under his observation, occurred
in men addicted to tobacco-smoklng
and in whom, he says, death was
probably induced by cardiac cessation,
from the paralyzing effect of tobacco
upon the nerve centres.
Quotations of this tenor from the
most eminent medical authorities on
both sides of the Atlantic might be
multiplied almost dd intfnitum In
view, then. of these appalling state
ments coming from the most un-
doubted sources of authority, should
not the parents and citizens of every
enlightened community awake to =
lust appreciation of the magnitude o1
this evil; and forthwith avail them
selves Of their rightful authority tc
prevent the perpetuation of such {
vicious habit, by strenuously insist
: ing, at all hazards, upon the obser
vance Of right moral and right phys
ical habits, especially on the part o!
those who "set themselves up" a
teachers Of youth and guardians O
the public health? In this way onl,
can the dispersion of these balefu
narcotic mists and deadly vapors from
the face of society be effected.
The frightful extent to which thi
pernicious practice prevails at tn
present time is unprecedented by any
thing to be found in the annals o
recorded time. Tobacco greets US a
every corner. Puppies in the guise o
officers and disguise of gentlemen
puff their foul impertinence into la
dies faces. 1t is. scarcely possible t
travel in any public conveyance with
out encountering the rudeness an
boorishness of smokers, who have be
come so demoralized by their filth
habit as to ignore the proprieties O
social life. As you pass along tn
crowded thoroughfares of our larg
cities, you are compelled to inhale til
nauseating fumes from cigars an
pipes, with the disgusting refectio
that you are taking in the foul eff1u
via from decayed teeth, filthy mouth
and diseased lungs. Here, in one grea
Observation-Disclosures. united by tn
strongest narcotic ties, may be foun
scavengers. doctors, bootblacks, black
guards. and. blacklegs. all champins
splitting and putting in mutual nal
cotic sympathy-all breathing narcot
ic incense TO the same licentious goo
Tobacco-smoke when drawn int
the mouth absorbs the putrid emans
tions which it finds there and diffuse
them in the atmosphere; and. more
over, data have recently been furnishe
by eminent pathologists. which,
they do not warrant a positive concl,
sion, they, at least, establish IA stron
probability in favor of the commun
cability of certain forms of malignan
liberation of the mouth and respirs
tory passages, by inhaling the smok
from diseased person. Is it not a
appalling reflection to think that thes
pestilential vapors which are ever a
illumination to the lovers Nf nnre ali