Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-11-09


his sweetheart, because In a fit Of alb
straction he used her finger to stop his
pipe; and whoever has read "The Cricket
ON the Hearth" will easily recognize a
smoker In Charles Dickens, when, speak
ing Of Dot, he says: "She was out and
out the very best filler of pipe, should
say. in the four quarters Of the globe.
To see her put that chubby little finger
In tho bowl, and then blow down the
pipo to clear the tube, and when she had
done so, affect to think that there really
was something in the tube, and blow
dozen times and hold II to her eye like a
telescope, with a most provoking twist
In her capital little face, us sho looked
down 1t, was quito brilliant thing. As
to tho tobacco, she was perfect mistress
Of the subject; and the lighting of the
pipe with q wisp Of paper, when the
Carrier had II in his mouth-going 40
very near his nose, and yet not scorch-
ing twas Art, high Art"
The habits Of famous authors In re-
spcct to tho use Of tobacco are interest
ing. Milton never went to bed without
his pipe and glass Of water. Shake
speare did not smoke, nor did Goethe,
Shelley, Wordsworth, Keats. Addison
had u pipe in his mouth at all hours.
After his daily dinner, Hobbies smoked
until after nightfall. Carlyle was
steady smoker for years. Tonnyson has
pulled" at his pipe for nearly half o
century. Sir Walter Scott smoked In
his carriage and regularly after dinner
and loved short clay pipe. Byron
wrote about Sublime tobacco" but in
dulged In its use only moderately.
Douglas Jerrold, Thackeray, Bayard
Taylor, Lord Lytton, Lord Houghton
and Campbell worked while putting ci-
gars or pipes. Neither Washington
Irving nor Bryant used the weed in any
way. Coleridge, when cured Of his
opium habit, took to snuff, and Prescott,
tho historian, when limited by his physi-
clan to one cigar day. drove all over
Paris to buy tho biggest one ho could
find.
Pursuing the subject further from
professional point of view, the writer
asked Professor Mott what in his iudg-
ment were the best means Of avoiding
injury from the excessive use of the
weed?
II should urge the smoker" ho re-
piled, "to observe two conditions. First,
the quality of the tobacco, and second, II
pipes are used, the quality Of the pipe
and its stem. Nicotine takes Its name
from Jean Nicot, who introduced tobacco
into France in 1860, and In its poisonous
power Is scarcely inferior to prussic acid.
Some tobaccos contain about . per cent,
others Q, and some nearly Z. II Is rare,
however, that hundred pounds OF the
dry leaf yields more than seven pounds
Of nicotine. In smoking hundred
grains Of tobacco. therefore, say quar-
ter Of an ounce, 1t Is possible to draw
into the mouth two grains or moro Of tho
most subtle of poisons, but tho proportion
will vary with the variety, the rapidity
Of smoking, the length Of tho pipe, the
material of which IL Is made. and other
! circumstances.
''In most oriental countries where
smoking Is constant habit, the natives
use long stcmmed pipes In which the
leaf burns slowly, added to which is o
bowl containing perfumed water, or
other liquid, through which the smoke
passes, leaving behind part OF It's pois-
onous vapor. The reservoirs OF some Of
the German pipes arc death traps, be-
cause they retain the grosser portions Of
the tobacco, while the cigar discharges
directly into the mouth all that results
from the combustion of the weed. You
will understand, therefore, that good
pipe should bo porous. like the Powha-
tan clay or corncob, with an ample
bowl that permits frequent cleaning, and
with long stem Of absorbent quality
that will take up the gummy.like refuse
Of the burned tobacco and the worst OF
the poisonous elements Of the nicotine.
Besides, n short pipe which discharges
its fumes directly into tho eyes and nos
trils is injurious to the sight.
Gas to the qualities of tobacco, these
depend on the honesty Of the manufac-
turer Turkish is Of course reckoned the
best The pure American, when una
dulterated with sumac leaves. straw, tea,
mullen and scores OF other substances
that are employed to increase bulk OF
add to the flavor, will rank next; bu,
such mass Of filthy stuff is now being
foisted on the community and sold by
the aid of chromos and other arts Of the
advertiser that /. is well nigh impossible
to detect the faIrS from the true. do
not pretend to be connoisseur in these
matters, however" concluded the doc
tor, land what ! have mentioned are
simply the facts familiar to all physicians
who have studied the subject"
F. q. DE FoaTAISE.
-------- ---------------