The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-04-23
THE EFFECTS OF TOBACCO

The effects of tobat co ,iii1rr widely,
according, first, to individual. and
racial, and climatic conditions. and nc
cording to the method of consumption,
and To circumstances of dosage and
concentration. In proof of individual
differences we have mass of everyday
testimony. 81 could never work unless
| smoked" says one; and another,
Tobacco never agrees with me, though
| have tried il often" Only on the view
that effects vary according to differences
of race can we account for the fact that
some communities readily adopt the
habit and defend it, while others find
no pleasure in it and dcnounce it, as in
the case of certain American states.
Climatic variations arc still more strik-
ing. In temperate and cold countries
tobacco creates thirst, and thereby en-
courages drinking habits; in tropical
chimes it has no such effect on the
smoker, and the taste for alcohol rarely
follows its use in those ATTITUDES. Very
eminent observers have, indeed, attrib-
utcd the proverbial sobriety of eastern
peoples to the use of tobacco. These are
important qualifications, having refer
ence to the smoker himself and his sur.
roundings, and modifying the effects OF
his indulgence In such manner rs
irresistibly to suggest the old proverb,
.'One mans food is another mans
poison" But, further, tho effects vary
according to the method of consump-
ton; and here we touch question OF
great interest, bearing upon several
stimulant narcotics, and that is the
question OF chewing. All solid foods
undergo this process in the mouth, and,
of our chief products, tobacco, coca,
opium. and betcl arc also chewed. The
act of chewing powerfully affects the
nerves of the mouth, being branches OF
the fifth pair of nerves. and i'm close con-
nection with the brain. While it has
long been understood that certain
nerves in the mouth excite, when stimu
lated by food, the plcasurable sensa
tons of taste, it is n more recent dis
covery that the chewing of solids pro
duccs through the fifth nerve certain
stimulant impressions upon the nervous
centers One of the consequent effects
is n quickened circulation in the brain
What light this throws upon the habit
of chewing. the world over! The child
whose one anxiety is to get something
between its teeth. may be cXemplifyins
a want and an instinct, the same a.
prompts the Egyptian Malay, and Hin
doc, from infancy to age, to gnaw n
the sugar-canc Again, many persons
seek to produce an analogous effect by
stroking the chin or nose when puzzled
or absorbed in thought In such cases
doubtless, the unconscious act has to-
its purpose stimulation of the brair
through the mediation of scnsitiv,
nerves. Both snuiling and chewing to
bacco probably exert this local intluenc,
far more powerfully than smoking. III,
constitutional effects in the three case
are nearly the same. Among our sail
ors .'chewing the quid' is eXtremel,
common, and seems to date from ,
time when smoking was prohibited from
danger TO the "wooden walls" Methods
of smoking exercise nm important intlu
ence on the effect produced. Smoked
in the European fashion, according Il
which the fumes of the burning leaf ar
sucked directly into the mouth, tn,
essential principles of the drug, inclu
ding nicotine. find free entrance int,
the system. This is Obviated by tn,
Turks, Hindoos, Chinese. and Others
who draw the smoke through layer O
water, IN some form of water-pipc, sucl
as the hookah and narghile. by thi
very wise method the narcotic effect
are far more difficult to produce ant
altogether less in extent. Hence
would be of great and undeniable ad
vantage to Introduce the water system
into this Countrywide Nineteenth Cen
| tNyU