The sun., 1899-02-05
"0UR LADY NICOTINE y
1yFEREsTTSs ITEMS IN THE Hfs-
TORI OF TOBACCO.
Fact. witch viii he Of Intereat to Those
All LI..... I'LL. ~.

who Use II and Those who Don't.
Rs well ns to Those Interested in
our New West indian Possessions.
rakipe It for granted. because tho contrary IA
,ncnpnble OF proof. that what we now call tobac-
co was unhcard Of bv civilized people until 10
VA. discovered by the Columbian explorers on
rna. Ia now the island Of Cuba. by the grace OF
God and the nerve Of Uncle Sam no longer a
Hnnntsh possession. the chroniclers are somc-
what undecided as to the exact moment OF
discovery but II was some time within week
or ten days after the 9th OF October. 1902. the
DAY on which the purple mountain peaks OF an
unknown country first broke the level sky Line
ofths so1 which spreads its sapphire sheen
hsfore the eagle eye OF Geuoeso pilot
when the three-keeled Spanish feet had an
.hored oil the coral re6fed shores Of the new
land which the italian In command called "the
Pearl Of the Antilles" and tho natives called
Caoboi. meaning tho land OF the dead. because
the warriors always killed their prisoners he
ssnteEplorlrE parties out into the wllds search
ing for the rich mines OF gold and silver and
that mystical Cubanacan In tho centre OF the
island whose gates we're nnrc gold aud whose
walls precious stones. with stories Of which
the crsdulous sailors had been stuffed by the
yellow editors OF that day. or course the sail
ors never found anything ns represented. but
they found a greater novelty. to wit. people
with arebrauds In their hands putting clouds
o, smoke from their mouths and noees. At
first the sailors thought they had 'em ag'in."
but Cuba was local ortion'at this time and they
knew that could not be: then they thought 1t
was wild western way the people had OF per-
fuining themselves. or fumigating against tho
time to come. and they prooeeded to inves-
tisate. They soon found 10 was not per-
fimery that was being burned. nor exactly a
fumigant. but that IL was a strange herb. which.
wrapped In the husks Of Indian corn. also a
novelty. the peonle burned. and inhaled the
smoke. What Its name or Its effects were
they did pot know Immediately. but discover
ers are in1ulsitve folk. and these sailors tried
the smoking process. then and there, greatly
10 the upheaval Of their entire inner men, and
their utter disgust with so vile a compound.
Later they ceased to wonder at the smoking
for wherever they went they found TINT the
custom In one form or another prevailed. and
still later dscoverers found that It was not
ony common in the West Indies. but all over
the great continent that thev had happened
on They found. too. that while the herb was
pretty much the same everywhere It had dif-
'erent names In different localities. being called
"kohha." "piecelt." "petun." 'cohba." "yoli."
and "tobaeo." while up In Virginia IL had the
name Of "apooke." The name "tobago" be-
came popular with the dscoverers because 1t
was more generally used. being the name OF a
peculiar pipe for smoking the weed. which
seemed to be the proper thing with all casses
everywhere. This pine was Y shaped affair.
the rrongs OF which were inserted in the nos
trils and the main stem went into the burn
Ing tobacco. which was piled in a hean and set
on fire, as many smoking around It or as few
as might be. Il does not appear that the ma
tyes ever made the tobago long enough in the
stem to be filed with the weed and smoked
asa pipe. although pipes OF other forms were
In use among some Of the tribes. When the
forked stem was not procurabe single reed
stem was used In one nostril. The word to
bago" was euphonized into "tapnco." and final
" into ''tabaco." which the Spanlards retained
although other nations for fifty or sixty years
attempted to ADOPT other names for the new
American product.
Chief among these titular designers was
Jean Nicot. Ambassador from France to Portu-
gal in 1909. who bought some OF the plants
from Flemish merchant In Lisbon who had
them from Florida. He sent them to the
Grand Prior OF France and they were given
the name OF the Herbe de Grand h-ie,r. which
was appropriate enough. as tobacco at that
time was used by civilized people for medi
cinal purposes only. When Nicot, who was a
gallant and courtier OF the old school. came
back to France in 1851. he presented some Of
WIG biduIS " VuteU NdLHeTlUD ue 0leulclS WITH
his com pliments. and gave them the name Of
Herbe de la Refine or herbe Medicee. These
ladylike names did not stick. however. and they
gave place TO the name Nicotiana. from which Is
nicotine. the scientific designation for the es-
sental oil, or the soul. Of tobacco. In one part
oi l'aly II was known as Erba Santa Croce,
from Portugal: and in another 1t was lorna
Sd Sodda; I.sired tr9m french envoy OF that name Tho
however. tAhan0. l.
officially bv Hernandez de Oviedo became uni
versally recognized, and was adapted to the
llsh.speaklng countries. "tahae" among the
Portuguese; 'tabaka'' among the Poles
l 'tobak' Ak o among the Danes and scapdlnaylans
plant received its name from the island ot, To-
i 6ago Is a. reversal Of the facts. The island re-
dseoSersa it, was shdped i ike ike the tobaEo. and
As the discoyerers Of America extended their
tsTSm3NratiSns *. Ni they found that, the natives Of
addicted 20 the tobacco habit. and among
some son ,n OF the more advanced peoneS the pipe
5.Ss Of he mS. ad sSapsa
o. the finest material and richly carved. The
s ssshest and t9e lowest used the weed as they
pyramids, was wont TO smoEs' his pipe after
scented water. A rare old dude was he.
While many used the pipe yia the mouth.
more used 1t IN the nostrila. and so violent was
the manner Of inhalation that the smoker be-
same stnpehed with the fumes and saw
VISIONS. much as he does in these days who
hlts the rire" In an onium Joint However. 80
isets a; sn excess d gaTetses Is IN these days
tshtthat Is u that the smoker has degenerated ~. the
tobacco gained strength with the years2
common method Of mouth smoking was to roll
ine weed In Il corn hnsk as a clgar. ls now rolled
IN a tobacco leaf, only larger, and another vas
20 make funnel or cornucopia NJ the pain,
.eai and lohh IL with the Hry tobacco. This
me,hod became .ponular with shin Captains
shd sailors. hut II IL not recorded that any OF
thfn sucked a dozen cigars day.
IN l4i4 Romnno Pane, who came over with
..olnmbus Oh his second voyage. say natives
thkihg tobacco In another form. This was
through cane stem n yard or more long, one
stbba q which was placed in the nostril and
Une other In nile OF powdered tnbacco. and
we powder was lnhnleI. se'uring tho result
eesIeh by acting AS. purge. This was the
Hrst known Instance Of SNUFF taking which later
bbeSame a more ultra fashionable form Of 70,
uaccO using among the courtIcrs Of latci
Afha f,.f RI