Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-04-13
TOBACCO AS A DIsINFECTANT.
The Narcotics Claim as General Dis
infectaut.

The habit of smoking is not one that
commends itself to every person. With
| those who abstain from it we find no fault;
but for that greater number in the COM
munity who indulge in the weed it may
be interesting to know, as the result of
scientific inquiry, that tobacco is not quite
SO black as it is frequently painted. To-
bacco may not rank as public benefactor,
but, from what has recently been disclosed,
1t may lay claim to be somewhat of the
nature of a general sanitarian. There is
popular notion, especially among the
smoking portion of the community, that
tobacco smoke acts as a disinfectant; this
claim, however, is, we believe, not gener-
ally supported by medical men. But it
has been shown, from the investigations
and experiments of an Italian professor,
DIR. Vincenzo Tassinari, assistant at the
Hygiene Institute of the University of
Pisa, that tobacco smoke is to certain ex-
| tent an annihilator of disease by its action
! upon the growth of bacilli.
DIR. Tassinari has taken great pains to
demonstrate its utility in that direction,
and constructed special apparatus for the
purpose. In order to initiate as closely as
possible the process going on in the human
mouth during the inhalation of smoke, DR..
Tasslnarl passed tobacco smoke through a
horizontal tube into chamber kept moist
by bunch of wet cotton wool suspended
in it and containing, besides, Culture"
or growth of bacilli, which he submitted to
the action of tobacco smoke He used in
his experiments the various qualities of
manufactured tobacco most generally
smoked in Italy-that is to say, the large
Virginia cigar, the large Cavour cigar, the
small Cavour cigar, and the best cigarette
tobacco. The acting of all these was tried
severally upon seven known kinds of bac-
teria-namely, the so-called cholera bacil-
lus, the cattle distemper bacillus, pus COO
Gus, Finkler-Prior baceria, the baciIli of
typhus and pleuro-pneumonia. and finally
the bacillus of blue pus.
We say advisedly, the "so-called cholera
bacillus" because its existence is not vet
positively proved. The results obtained
by DIR. Tassinari were most remarkable,
and amply repaid him for his trouble, the
experiments showing Enthusiastically that
tobacco smoke considerably retards the de-
velopment of some varieties of bacteria,
while it efiectually prevents the develop
ment of others. DIR. Tassinari carried his
investigations further, actually fixing the
length of time during which the develop
ment of bacteria is prevented. By COM
pairing experimentally the growth of the
same heterogeneous when not exposed
to the retarding action to tobacco smoke
with their development when so exposed,
it was found that the smoke of the largest
Cavour cigar, for instance, delayed the de-
velopment of pus bacilli for seventy-two
hours and of cattle distemper bacilli for
100 hours, and that the same smoke pre-
vented the formation of cholera and typhus
bacilli entirely-in fact, acted as germi-
eide. Similar results were obtained in the
experiments with other descriptions of
manufactured tobacco.
DR.. Tassinari attributes this annihila-
ting effect of tobacco smoke upon bacteria
to the action of the chemical elements
contained in it. He proposes to carry on
further experiments, with regard especially
to the action of tobacco smoke upon the
bacillus of tuberculosis, and if these should
prove as conclusive as those he has made
with the heterogeneous named, con-
sumptive patients may be benefited from a
hygienic point of view. At any rate, the
highly-important results of the curious OBJ
servations of DIR. Tassinari, while they are
of great interest to laymen, both smokers
and non-smokers, deserve that careful at
tention of the medical profession which
they will no doubt receive.-Hartfortl
EUening Post.