Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-12-01
THE USE OF TOBACCOAE
THE QUESTION BRIEFLY DISCUSSED
BY A MEDICAL MAN.

A Matter Of Importance 20 Smoker.
Habits 10 DO Avoidcd--Ths Cigarette
Properties Of Nicotine--Experi-
mental observaaion--The Maoris.
Tobacco contains an acrid, dark brown
oil, an alkaloid, nicotine and another
substance called nicotianinc, in which
exist its odorous and volatile principles.
This description OF the active principles
of tobacco is Of importance to smokers;
for, when tobacco Is burned, new set
of substances is produced, some Of which
are less harmful than the nicotine, and
are more agreeable In effect, and much
OF the acrid ola substance quite as
irritating and poisonous as nicotine-is
carrid off. These fire produced sub
stances are called, from their origin,
the ''pyridine SERIES" By great heat
the more aromatic and less harmful
members Of the series are produced, but
tho more poisonous compounds are gen.
Grated by the slow combustion OF damp
tobacco This oil, which is liberated by
combustion, is bad both in flavor and in
effect, and II Is better, even for the i'm
mediate pleasure of the smoker, that it
should DO excluded altogether from his
mouth and air passages.
Smoking In stub OF a Pipe Is particu-
larly injurious, for the reason that in it
the oil is stored in q condensed form,
and tho smoke is therefore highly
charged with the oil Sucking or chew
ing the stub of cigar that one is smok-
ing is serious mistake, because the
nicotine in the unburned tobacco dis
solves freely in the saliva, and Is alb
sorbed. "Chewing' is on this account
the most injurious form of the tobacco
habit, and the use Of cigar holder Is an
improvement on the custom of holding
the cigar between the teeth.
MISCHIEF OF CIGARETTES.
Cigarettes are responsible for n great
amount of mischief, not because the
smoke from the paper has any particu-
larly evil effect, but because smokers
and they are often boys or very young
men-are apt to use them continuously
or at frequent intervals, believing that
their power for evil is Insignificant.
Thus the nerves are under the constant
influence of the drug. and much injury
to the system results. Moreover, the
cigarette smoker uses very considerable
amount of tobacco during the course of
a day. dipping" and ''snufling" are
Hemi-barbarities which need not be dis
cussed. Not much effect is obtained
from the use of the drug in these vari-
cites of the habit.
Nicotine is one Of tho most powerful
of the "nerve poisons" known. Its virl-
lence is compared TO that of prussic acid
If birds be made to inhale its vapor in
amounts too small to be measured, they
are almost instantly killed. 1t seems to
destroy life, not by attacking few, but
all of the functions essential to it, begin
ming at the center, the heart. A signiti-
cant indication of this Is that there Is no
,hSfa WI OF
its effects: the system either succumbs
or survives. Its depressing action on
the heart is by far the most noticeable
and noteworthy symptom of nicotine
poisoning. The frequent existence of
what is known rs smokers heart" in
men whose health is In no other respect
disturbed is due to this fact.
AN EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATION.
In an experimental observation OF
thirty eight boys of all classes Of society
and of average health, who had been
using tobacco for periods ranging
from two months to two years, twenty
seven showed severe injury to the con-
stitution and insufficient growth; thirty
| two showed the existence Of irregularity
of tho hearts action, disordered stom
achs, cough, and a craving for alcohol
thirteen had intermittency Of the pulse
and one had consumption. After they
had abandoned the use of tobacco, withir
six months time one-half were free from
their former symptoms, and the remain
der had recovered by the end of the year
A great majority of men go far be
yond what may be called the temperate
use of tobacco, and evidences of injury
arc easily found. 1t is only necessary t.
have some record of what the genera
health was previous r. ho taking up o.
tho habit, and to have observation cove
long enough time. The history of to
bacco in the Island Of New Zealand fur
nishes quite suggestive illustration fol
our purpose, and one on a largo scale
When Europeans first visited New
Zealand they found in tho native Maori
the most finely developed and powerful
men of any OF tho tribes inhabiting tn,
islands of tho Pacific. Since the intro
duction of tobacco, for which the Maori
developed passionate liking, they hav,
from this cause alone, it is said, becom
dccimated in numbers, and at the sam,
time reduced in stature and in physica
well being SO as to be an altogether infe
rior type Of men.-C. w. Lyman in New
York Medical Journal.