The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1897-07-07
EVIL EFFECTS OF TOBACCO

EVIL EFFECTS OF TOBACCO.
Tobacco is a weed, and weed that
this world would be better off with
out.
The tobacco plant is well known by
botanists as one of a large family,
the Solanaceae, and popularity of
them all is the production, in larger
or smaller quantities, of some narcot-
ic drug, nicotine being the principal
one of the group. This drug is found
in the plant to the extent of from
three to nine per cent. Somebody has
said that in combustion of tobacco in
smoking, the nicotine is entirely des-
troyed, broken up into oils and acids,
and that the nicotine itself is not TAX
en- into the system. The combustion
of tobacco, under ordinary conditions,
does not destroy the drug. kissing
recovered fifty-two per cent of it from
the smoke of a sample containing
three and seventy-fve hundredths
per cent of nicotine.
The amount OF nicotine derived
from cigar in smoking is somewhere
in the neighborhood of one per cent,
if we presume one-half is destroyed
by the process of combustion then the
other half is drawn in with the smoke
and in a very short time a decided
change will come over the whole body.
There are other ways of taking MIC
otine into the system besides smok-
ing. We have all chewed gum before
dinner, until, when we came to eat
and tried to chew dry food, there was
no saliva to mix with it, and we ate
with discomfort. So you see If we
chew tobacco it uses up the saliva,
dries up the glands and the nicotine
is forced into the circulation.
This drug not only affects the few
glands in the body but affects the
whole nervous system also. This
may be seen by its effect upon the pu'
pill of the eye, where there is temper
ary dilation followed by prolonged
contraction of the systemic influence
of full doses of morphine.
The motor nerve is affected to G
very great extent. For instance, w
P. Lombard Of the University of Mich
igan, has shown that the administra
ton of even moderate amounts OF to
bacco in form of smoke, lowers th'
working power of the human muscle
by a high percentage. He also say
that in ten minutes after smoking ;
cigar we feel the muscular power be
gin to diminish. If this is the, wa.
it affects man of strong constitution
how then does it affect the growing
boy?
The greatest crime that boy ca
commit is to smoke cigarettes. Th
: effect of nicotine on growth is YER
, measurable, and the following figure
, are presented as fairly satisfactor
8 demonstration of the interference
t with growth that may be expecteA /
: boys from sixteen to twenty-fv
: years old when they are believed
: have reached full maturity.
e For instance, the men composing
= class in Yale have been divided int
S three groups. The first, are thos
n who do not use tobacco; the secop,
h are those who use it regularly; az
S the third includes the irregulf
d smokers.
The first group grows 1o.4 per Gel
more than the second and 6.6 MOI
than the third. In height first grou
Y grows "a per cent more than secor
= and II per cent more than third ar
+ in capacity. of lungs, first group gail
p n per cent more than second al
II 49.5 more than third.
re The widely differing growth
ID capacity of lungs points to the inf
ID ence of tobacco on respiration.
ID Respiration is essentially muse
IN lar act and as such would be serious
j. impeded by nicotine. Put even ia
e ther than this must act the irratir
II substances of smoke which readi
X causes inflammation and serene
n Of any mucous membrane. Now
L. fully expand the lungs Under SUI
m conditions is uncomfortable, II n
TO impossible. and respiration degena
"a ates into an incomplete act.