The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-05-20

some Of the plants to Queen Catherine
de Medicis with his compliments, and
gave them the name of Herbe de la
keina or Herbe Medicee. These lady
like names did not stick, however, and
they gave place TO the name NlcOtlana
from which is nicotine, the scientific
designation for the essential Oil, or the
soul of tobacco. In one part OF Italy
Int was known as Erba santa CrOce
Cardinal Prosper Santa CrOce having
brought it from Portugal; and in ano-
Ither 1t was TornabOna, from u French
envoy of that name who had received
the plants from Moot. At last, how
lever, tabaco, the name given to it semi
| officially by Hernandez de OViadO, be-
came universally recognized and was
| adapted TO the various languages OF
Europe. Today it is still "tabaco" in
Spain, while it is tobacco" in English
speaking countries, "tabac' among the
French, ''tabacco' among the Italians
and Portuguese; "tabaka? among the
| Poles; ''tobak" among the Danes
and ScandinaVians and ''tabak" among
Germans, Dutch and Russians. The
opinion held by some that the plant
received its name from the island of
| Tobago is d reversal of the facts The
island received its name from TOBACCO
the native pipe, Columbus believing
| that the island, when he discovered it,
was shaped like the TOBACCO, and so
called it.
AS the discoveries of America eX-
| tended their explorations they found
| that the natives of the North as we'll
as those OF the South were addicted to
| the tobacco habit, and among some OF
| the more advanced peoples the pipe
was an object of artistic and scientific
consideration, being of the most con-
venient shapes, of the finest material
and richly carved. The highest and
the lowest used the weed as they do
| today, and it is said that MOnteZuma,
| that Aztec whose pedigree was mixed
| up with the Pyramids, was wont to
| smoke his pipe after dinner when he
had rinsed his mouth with scented
water. A rare old dude was he
While many used the pipe via the
mouth, more used it in the nostrils,
and so violent was the manner of in
halatiOn that the smoker became stupe-
fled with the fumes and saw visions, -
much as he does in these days who
hits the pipe" in an opium joint.
However, so far as recorded it was
cess of cigarettes is in these days. Is
it that the smoker has degenerated or
the tobacco gained strength with the
years? n common method of mouth
smoking was to roll the weed in a corn
musk as a cigar is now rolled in a
tobacco leaf, only larger, and another
was TO make funnel or cornucOpia of
the palm leaf and load it with the dry
tobacco. This method became popular
with ship Captains and sailors, but it
is not recorded that any of them smok-
ed dozen cigars a day.
In 1894 Romano Pane, who came
over with Columbus on his second vow
age, saw natives taking tobacco in
another form. This was through a
cane stem yard or more long, one end
of which was placed in the nostril and
the other in pile of powdered tObac-
co, and the powder was inhaled, secur-
ing the result desired by acting as a
purge. This was the first known in
stance of snuff taking, which later be-
came a more ultrafashionablef form of
tobacco using among the courtiers of
later times than any other, and for
tunes were sometimes represented in a
single jewelled snuffbOX. No record is
| made of any discovery of the dip
ping" habit, that being rather the de-
velopment of a later and presumably
higher civilization.
Tobacco chewing was also known TO
the natives and practiced to some ex-
tent. In 1903, when the Spaniards
landed in Paraguay, they saw and felt
the first of it. the inhabitants coming
out to fight them beating drums, throw
ing water, and chewing herbs and
squirting the juice toward them In
our day of two-mile range guns this
weapon would scarcely be effective but
against foe hand to hand, or mouth
to eye, it might prove to be no mean
offence or defence. Generally speak
/ ing, tobacco was chewed as a means of
staying hunger on long journeys or
marches, civilized soldiers and sailors
adopting it later for the same reason
and because it was less announcement
than the pipe. In the time of the Res
toratiOn some few English gentlemen
chewed, and little silver cuSpidOrs were
carried around by them to be used, but
more daintily, as are those washtub-
like affairs one may see about the cor
ridors of the Capitol. public buildings
and hotels at Washington, where our
free and untrammelled great American
statesmen and fellow citizens are wont
to congregate But tobacco chewing
never became popular among the ear
lier better classes, and it was not until
the United States developed a people
hungering to 'fchaw up the tyrants of
the Old World, and not being able to