Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-16
THREE CIGARS A DAY.
Doctor Hammond Says Most Men Can
Stand That Much Tobacco.
CHEWING ALWAYS DETRIMENTAL.
Pipes Are More Dangerous Than the Weed
Done Up in Rolls.
THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF EXCESS
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArcH.I

| fact, they may be entirely disregarded in
| our consideration of the influence of the
weed on mankind. Doubtless there are
| instances in which the soothing effect of a
! cigar is desirable, and there are others in
which smoking Immediately after meal
increases the amount of gastric juice Sc
creted, and hence facilitates the digestive
process, but there are SO many more cases in
which tobacco instead of soothing irritates,
| and still greater number in which, so far
from facilitating digestion, it positively re-
tards that function, that humanity would
! be none the loser if tobacco as soother of
ruffled spirit and as a prod for the secretion
of the gastric juice were to be utterly swept
from the face of the earth.
We have other and more efectual methods
of quieting the agitated mind and much bet
ter stimulators of digestion which are in no
| way harmful; for although tobacco may DO
| some good to some people, there are prob
ably few who use it in whom the injurious
i effects do not more than eounterbalace what
ever good may be derived from it.
LITTLE DANGER IN MODERATION,
Still it may, think, be asserted without
fear of contradiction that the distinctly del
eterious results ensuing from the moderate
use of tobacco by adults are infrequeDt. In
| making this declaration 1 desire to be un-
derstood as laying particular stress on the
words moderate and adults, and also as
| limiting the employment of tobacco solely
| to the smoking of cigars. Chewing is q
thoroughly filthy and disgusting habit, and
moreover is in furious, no matter how moder-
ately it may be INDUCED In. 1t takes away
from the system the saliva, one of the chief
digestive juices, and it vitiates the other Sc
cretioRs OF the mouth
Cigarettes are rarely, if ever, used without
the smoke being inhaled into the lungs, and
the consequences of this practice are almost
invariably deplorable, owing to the great
amount of nicotine which is absorbed into
the system. AS to snuff, the taking of to-
bacco through the nose is now so infre-
quently praeticed that it may be dismissed
without further discussion. 1t is almost as
dirty habit as chewing, and in a very short
time so impairs the integrity of the mucous
membrane of the nose as to alter the voice.
and induce catarrh, and ultimately destroy
the sense of smell. Dipping has also pretty
much gore out of vogue. 1t consisted H.
applying the snuff to the teeth by some kind
of brush, usually one made from a hickory
twig.
PIPES WORSE THAN CIGARS.
The objection to the best kind of pipes is
".
of the tobacco are absorbed into the system
than is the case with cigars. With common
| pipes, especially those with short STEMS the.
degree OF irritation which is excited in the
lips and interior of the mouth is far greater
than that resulting from tobacco used in any
other form.
Now to return to cigars. One good cigar
smoked after each meal is what maV be-
| called moderate use, and can rarely af1ict
any damage to the system. The exceptions
| occur In those persons of peculiar organizs-
| ton, impressionable and easily disturbed bv
| stimulants, sedatives or narcotics There
! are others, as we know, in whom a.
cup of tea or coffee a saucer of strawber--
ries causes arrangement of some one or more,
organs of the body, and others with even
more remarkable peculiarities, SO that it is
not strange that there should be individuals
to whom tobacco is more or less poisonous
Such instances, however, are rare and do
do not conflict with the foregoing statement.
can see, therefore, no very great reason
why, if person desires, or thinks he de-
sires mental or physical consolation or bene-
fit, he should not indulge himself in the
moderate use of cigars in the manner that l.
have mentioned.
| TWO DELETERIoUs EFFECTS
But should he pass the proper limits, be
makes himself liable to the occurrene of
| Ouc VI mOIS ScEluuS puySlCdl QlSOFQerS, aQV
one of which will certainly entail great
suffering upon him. Thus neuralgia NAV
| harass him by day and Dv night, aud es-
| pecially when he has exposed himself to in
clement weather, or been subject to mental
anxiety, or other emotional disturbances.
Again he may suffer from derangsmept of
the eyesight, consequent upon Inflammation
OF the optic nerves, tobacco amaurosis, " 40
| it is sometimes called. For a long time
oculists differed in regard to the existence
of such disease, and I was among the
doubters, but 1 believe there is now no
| difference of opinion among those who make
| a specially of diseases of the eye, and
have for several years been convinced from
| actual experience of the reality of infam-
nation of the optic nerves caused by the ex-
cessiye use Of tobacco, several cases of the
kind having come under my own immediate
observation. In all of these, as soon as the
| victims ceased to smoke the optic nerves be-
gan to assume healthy appearance, the
vision to improve, and eventually the sight
to be entirely restored. In one case the use,
of tobacco was resumed, and shortly after
ward the vision again began to fail, to be q
second time restored on the patient entering
upon a course of entire abstinence.
The influence of tobacco upon the heart ia
frequently more strongly marked than in
| any other direction. There are few persons
| who use this substance to excess who do not
suffer from the disordered action of the or
| gan in question. The impulse is rendered
weaker and more irregular. So that faint
ness, intermittent pulse and palpitation
are induced. 1 am very sure, from nv own
experience, that many young persons Law
the seeds Of organic disease of the heart
| from the excessive use of tobacco, or from
beginning it too early in life. It not only
lessons the nervous influence by which tbs
| heart is kept in action, but it causes a de-
teriorat1on of the organic muscular fbers.of
which the organ is composed. Weak
heart and 'heart failure" so commonly
met with in our day, are, I have no doubt,
| very often the direct consequence of the
| abuse of tobacco.
The use of tobacco by minors should be,
absolutely prohibited, not by laws which are.
impossible of enforcement, and which en-.
cumber the statute books, but by home ip-
| fuence and command. 1t is very certain
that no young person can use this substance.
even in moderation, without suffering more
| or less severely at the time, and laying up
for himself future troubles of even more Sc.
rious import. WILLIAM A HAMMOND.
NEW YORK November ID