Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-07-31
PERNICIOUs CIGARETTES.
DR. FOrdyce Barker Talks About Nico.
tine Poisoning-BOys should Not be
Permitted To Use Tobacco,

DR. FOrdyce BARKER Talks About Nico.
tine POisOninS-BOys should Not be
Permitted To Use Tobacco.
From the New York Mail Express
Two new cases have been added within q few
days to the hundreds already on record, In
which the inordinate use of the cigarette has
been charged with producing fatal results.
/ Whether the charge is well founded, in the
strictest sense OF the phrase, is question on
which doctors and experts may differ. but there
is no disputing the fact that if the appetite for
the cigarette had been strangled in these cases,
life would certainly have been prolonged. The
| tate MI 4. r. WoerishOffer an incessant
! cigarette smoker, and while some of the physi-
/ cEths are slow To admit that this caused his
death, his associates who knew his habits of
lie Well have expressed very emphatic opn-
! victim was a newsboy, Is years Old who smoked
Two packages of cigarettes before his breakfast,
| then fell down unconscious and loaned at the
mouth tie fingered for q long time, but failed
TO rally, and the doctors admitted that he died
| rom nicotine poisoning. SO general has the
habit of smoking become in recent years, that
there are very few persons not interested in
! KNOW what are the precise risks and dangers
| lhey incur IN INDUCING in the weed.
| VIEWS OF MEDICAL MEN.
DIR. Fordyce Barker, DIR. George F. Shrady
and other eminent medical men consented 70
give their opinions on the subject. They
! steered between both extremes, and said 1t
was impossible to lay down any general rule
which would serve as guide to ali persons in
discriminatory. DIR. Barker said:
| Ihere are many absurd ideas afiOat about
c oooacco poisoning, and tobacco cranks nave
| come 10 De very numerous. l never knew a
case IN my practice in which death could be
attributed To nicotine. Functional disturbances
may arise, and in some cases life may be short
ehed by the abuse of tobacco, but consider a
! GOOD cigar desirable and healthy Sedative
! am a smoker, and am not conscious that the
/ habit has ever done me any hurt. Try one of
| HARM.
Ibid not smoke kill Gen. Grant,"
| THAT Idea mas been exploded"
Dr. Shrady proPounded views similar to those
expressed by Dr. Barker. He also Is a moder-
ate smoker He said the extent to which man
| could safely indulge in the use of tobacco de-
pended entirely on his temperament and con-
stitution, and that in this regard every man
/ must be "a law unto himself. 1t would be absurd
! TO make any general rule. Persons of weak
/ frame and highly nervous temperament should
/ avoid smoking altogether or should be very
| aostemious in the OF the weed. In some
| cases smoking may be OF positive benefit when
not INDUCED excess He said that young
/ boys should not be permitted to tobacco in
any form until their systems are developed and
| was unqualified in the Remuneration OF the Gig
| arctic, which stunted the growth and impaired
the vitality oI the young.
Another prominent physician, who Is quoted
as an authority in blood poisoning and nervous
disorders, and who requested that his name
should not De published, said: There is no
adaSe more true than that which declares
that what Is one man > meat Is another mans
| poison, and this has special force when
speak of tobacco. Some cannot touch the weed
without suffering, while others may use it with
| perfect safety almost To excess. The fumes of
tobacco have "a balmy and soothing effect
the best literary efforts have been brought out
under It's Influence. Soine of our famous men
say they cannot collect their thoughts and
commit them TO paper unless the pipe is in
their mouth. had patient once vino told
me he ate his meals for the pleasure derived
from the smoke tIat followed and he considered
the cigar essential the foOd,
Nv Guild the world he IL gamer or a loser il the
tobacco plant became extinct
Ina is IL hard question, but aside from COM
ncrciti aspects L should be inclined to think
tie word would be a loser The weed does
never divide the two classes. Smokers are
more genial and better fellows than noll-sIuok-
els. They are happy lucky people, vino
Con want To quarreI, and IL Is a noteworthy
1dci that brolis are very rare over IL social
cigar.
w hat are the evil effects following from in
judiciOu> smoking?''
Ihc first pelceptible effect is palpitatiOn of
the heart, which sometimes became very VIC
tent. Ii the smoker does not take warning and
stop on the appearance oil this system, nausea
vomiting and great lassitude will follow.
Eventually the trouble VIII become chronic tue
throat VIZ grow raw ANA sore, the stomach will
become unable To Retain or digest food, and the
NEST deploraoie state OF exhaustion results.
4he blood not poisoned, hoWcVer, in the tech
Hicil medical sense OF the term. 1t is only an
eNanc>cent poison which will gradually disap-
pear Under tonic treatment when the smoking
habit Is dropped"
CIGARETTES VILE AND NOXIoUS.
What is the most hurtful form OF indulgence
in tobacco
beyond all controversy, the cigarette
For what reaSono'
The cigarette Is RESPONSIBLE for almost all
tine evils CAUSED by tobacco Growin. bows
commence to- use them before their pny steal
powers are developed, the coating OF their
stonachs becomes ruined and their growth
stunted. They will often become weak uuny
men, and IN tue interest OF humanity string
a ma sad .4lyt,N IL
olcii,e Tor boys to smoke or for dealers to sell
cigarettes to them. Such law is in force in
rance Cigarettes are SO cheap that every
boy can procure them, and they are now VERY
generally sold III broken packages, SO that the
he"sboy or boCtback can buy one or two cents
Woftn his Is nothing short Oi criminal. The
cigarette Is worse than the cigar or pipe be-
cause the burning paper, which is often said to
he poisonous adds extra irritant Cigarette
SMOKERS, Tor SOME reason never know when to
stop. and almost invariably DRIFT into excess
Some years ago Chewing was all the rage, but
III Is now considered Il Vulgar habit, aud unfUr-
tunately cigarette smoking. which is far more
hurtiuI, has taken its place"
lis ii true that smoking dims the sight?"
smoke affects the sight through the optic
nerves, and SOME few Cases record where
men have been rendered stone blind by the ex-
ccssixe use OF TOBACCO, but such cases are very
rlre
y gentleman of sedentary habits of life who
had teen Il heavy cigarette smoker for MANY
years, and who dropped the habit on the advice
oil Ills physician, gave his experience. He said:
!"und myself ihdisposed Ior work, unable to
u
continued to SMOKE on as usual never dream
Ing That the cigaae Was responsible for NV
condition. l consulted several doctors who
eoAld not divine the cause OF my trouble At
last one oil tnem detected that was "a Cigarette
smoker, and told me must make up my mind
! 10 sop or To die. AT this time my heart was
pilpiiailug l2O 10 the minute. discarded the
Cigarette, went under tonic treatment for a few
months and to-day l am as we'll as ever /
sinohe an occasional cigar which does me no
I hurt ~ "
The EDITOR of a publication devoted SOLELY to
lhc tobacco interest Insisted that there was
nolh!hS hurtiul III the use of tobacco and in
proof Oh MS assertion cited the fact that smokers
sinu chewef, are Us lOng-iived as other people
vi the small boy aud the cigarette he said
we nave always opposed cigarette-smokin
by youths III our columns. Something sbouli
be done 10 prevent boys from smoking AS a
rule, those who indulge in the vice at an early
age oecoih" dWdried in mind and BODY and
S;,od-Ior-np;hl1S inen and their children
Should they live to have any, will be more
eiieninIttc ihith themselves. The law should
s!ep IN issu stop this epidemic OF Juvenile cigar
cite smoking.
BathinS AT Ocean Grove.
Albany journal Correspondence.
lhere Is "a conglomeration of sexes In the