The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-10-15
TEA AND roeAcco BLINDNESS.
The Loss Of sight Prom Their Excessive
Use u Common.

Use u Common.
Thousands on thousands OF people,
many of them women, go through the
latter part of their lives with a par
tial blindness the cause OF which they
little suspect. When this affiiction be-
comes acute and ome under the ob-
~servation of the physician, 1t Is known
as amblyopia.
How often do you hear men and wo-
men complain of a tired feeling in the
optic region. especially upon rising In
the morning when the lids seem to be
glued To the eyeballs? This Is the ear
IN stage OF a blindness brought on by
the reckless use of stimulants. Tobac-
co and alcohol for the most part. cause
these eye troubles. but tea taken In
excess for any length Of time Will pro-
duce the same conditions.
1t Is not so long since a man OF 10
years. who found his eyesight failing.
was treated by one of the distinguished
physicians Of London. He was strong,
healthy and had seemingly led a very
regular, temperate life. He smoked II
pipe Of strong tobacco after each meal
and drank one glass of beer at dinner.
OF these he was deprived. but did not
improve. Finally the fact was elected
that for years he had consumed daily
IL cupfuls of strong. cheap. green tea.
~ lhNN'N ibtN "a' 80
beer and tobacco resumed, and from
that moment. under treatment, his
vision gradually improved until a cure
was accomplished.
The symptoms of tobacco amblyopia
n that due TO alcohol are absolutely
Identical. They set up a chronic and
painless Inflammation of the optic
nerve. Diminution and then loss of
sight are accompanied by a dryness
Of the upper lid. easily detected, but
few realize what the annoyance really
means. II neglected the impairment.
from the center of the field owe the
of the nerve hbres leads. though
rarely, TO absolute yet generally to
practical blindness. Among boys as
young as Is years cases OF cigarette
origin are known when the papillar of
the optic nerve became abnormally
at first and was followed
quickly by anaemia, ending In atrophy
of the. disc.
in the case of alcohol, but a quarter
of a pound of tobacco consumed each
week for n generation will produce pos
tive blindness. The quality of tobac-
is not without influence. The more
expensive tobacco, as a rule, contains
much less nicotine than the cheaper
varieties.
Nicotine is one of the most virulent
poisons known, and ever i'm minute
doses kills instantly. Its action IN the
animal economy may be compared to
that of prussic acid. since n drop In
concentrated solution sufiices to kiln n
dog. 1t exists in tobacco in small pro-
portions. Virginia tobacco contains
about Z per cent, Havana > per cent.
Repeated instances Of insanity have
been traced to nicotine and IL Is "A
common cause OF paresis. The amount
Of nicotine found I'm a single cigar has
been administered TO n frog with fatal
results. One case Is reported In which
two men died I'm commissions after
having smoked Is pipes of tobacco in
quick succession.
Tobacco amblyopia, or blindness. IL
less frequent among the u of
expensive tobacco. Certain races seem
TO be immune. Fol example. the Gu
bans seem never TO suffer from IL. and
the Turks are equally fortunate. though
both are very large
The general health has a very inn
portant bearing. In a large majority
Of all cases the blindness occurs when.
from one cause or another. the system
is depressed. DIR. Schweinitz holds. n
most authorities agree with him. that
either the tobacco must come in di-
rect contact with the mucous mem
brane of the mouth or the nicotine
must be dissolved in the saliva and
swallowed. There are two obvious OBJ
jections To this view. The first Is that
tobacco users sometimes suffer from
the disease.
The hypothesis. on the other hand.
gives a reasonable explanation why
the Turks should he immune. as nei-
Their tobacco nor nicotine can reach
ekANe ...aAs.a NNA,,A,naA rkAw
tobacco ought To be a very harmful
method OF consumption. whereas Il Is
in reality N Of the least likely to pro-
duce amblyopia. n the second. hat
employees in tobacco factories who do
not themselves consume IL the ordin-
airy form Of orienta pipe be used be
used: nor readily by cigarettes. which
are now commonly smoked. The to-
bacco used by the Turks only contains
from , to 4 per cen OF nicotine. COM
pared to the ! and : per cent. found
in the tobacco OF the states. but the
large quantities consumed by the
Turks would equalize their chances of
suffering from the disease II the total
amount OF nicotine were the only fac
tor.
The cause and symptoms of tobacco
amblyopia are usually very constant.
There is almost always a slowly pro-
crossing failure OF vision. Usually the
eyes are affected nearly symmetrically
and equally. Occasionally one fails
sooner than the other. and the manner
OF failure is not always the same. TIE
failure may not be equal for near and
distant objects; sometimes distant Wis
ion fails in excess OF near vision. again
the reverse Is the case. Often the suf-
ferer will notice n color defect. Thus.
one person will seem to be looking
through a blue veil. TO another he
meets will appear to be pale and III.
There is a loss Of visual acuteness. as
tested by reading. OF one-ffth to me-