The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-25
Medical Notes.

\
The most fanatical miconicotinists in
their hatred of tobacco, would make OF
! Nicots weed a scapegoat for all the
sins of mankind Societies have been
| founded against the abuse of tobacco, but
| that is only a hypocritical euphemisn to
prevent it's use. However good their in
! tent, such societies have no beneficial in
/ fluence upon mankind from hygienic
point of view, because they are conduct
ed along the wrong lines by intolerant
ana dyspeptic bigots. They exaggerate
the evil, and all exaggeration renders the
subject thus distorted Insignificant 1t is
always so with temperance societies; in
! stead Of restricting themselves to the
praiseworthy programme of checking the
abuse of alcohol, they carry their crusade
INTO other fields, and go so far as to
| demand the determination of vineyards
I and the destruction of orchards.
1t is always wise to allow human ma
! ture some freedom, for, as PachoIier says,
"Philanthe touches the heart more
readily than Alceste." To allow the mod
crate use of tobacco is to gain authority
/ tc control it's abuse Tea, coffee and
! even water. are not without their dangers
ii one exceeds the limits of moderation,
/ but who would speak of suppressing
! these necessities of life?
But, somebody says, tobacco is a drug.
1t has been used for long time in medi-
cine. and If it is seen no longer on the
druggists shelves, it is because the
tobacco merchant has usurped the bust
ness. But is it not also true that alcohol,
coffee. tea, even sugar, were for long
time, sold as drugs before they became a
part of the grocer's stock in trade; in
! fact there is a proverb, IAN apothecary
without sugar." who must have been
very poor apothecary in his time. The
very argument that tobacco is a drug is
an indisputab!e proof that it is of value
in sustaining health Therapeuticaly
/ speaking, it is more or less calmative,
like its closely allied relatives BELLA
! donna and hyosciamus, all being mem
bers Of the great and noble family Of
! solanacae, or as Mchelet has called
! them, ''the comforters.''
! If tobacco was a dangerous poison its
effects would be especially noticeable in
the manufactures, where the continual
emanatfOns would seriously affect the
health of the working people. AS afact,
medical investigation showed that work.
Ing in tobacco is almost mucous; wom-
en- and children live. as it were, in beds
of tobacco, and their average sickness Is
less than in many other trades far less
healthful
Strange to say, among these workmen
forms of heart disease are rare, although
to speak truly, those are the most seri-
| Gus and the most marked evil conse-
| Guences of tobacco in smokers Irreg-
| uiarity and palpitation of the heart, tend
ency to acute cardiac disturbances and
! angina pectoris, it must be confessed,
| quite frequently occur in those who
smoke strong cigars to excess, and these
| accidents cease to occur only with the
cessation of the use which has induced
them; suppression of the abuse is not
sufficient.
AS for morphine, alcohol and ether pois-
ons, so with tobacco. 1t is usually neces-
sary to gradually wean the subject from
the habit to avoid serious disturbances in
! health. HYGIENE measures should be in
stituted, and light cigars, or pipes with a
| long stem, be used. These precautions
| counterfeit at least four-fifths of the in-
! furious results of tobacco. But in case
! Of heart disturbance, it is necessary to
| enforce immediate and radical disuse of
smoking.
! In fact, as is true of coffee tea, alco-
mol, ETC., smoking tobacco is a slow poi
! son, even if it does not affect the nerv-
! Gus system in so pronounced a degree as
| other poisons of the intellect 1t pos
sesses. on the other hand, the power OF
! rendering this miserable life endurable tic
many. Smoking is the first desire and the
supreme pleasure of the convalescent
When sick man asks to smoke, it is a
! favorable sign which has due weight with
the doctor in the prOgnosis 1t is per
haps the only so-called bad habit which
/ demands good health for its endowment
The unbiased mind cannot deny that
there are certain benefits in the moderate
/ use Of tobacco. Almost every dentist
! acknowledges that it has beneficial ac-
ton upon the teeth, an action attributed
| to the neutralizing aIcaIinity of the
| smoke and to the ant1septic qualities OF
nicotine and pyrdine, which destroy the
! vitality OF microbes which might other.
! wise thrive and multiply in the mouth
! Claude Bernard further believes that The
minute quantity Of prussic acid in tobac-
co is Vaporized and contributes to asepsis
| in the mouth.
| Smoking certainly relieves the tooth.
| ache, and DR.. Hepburn affirms that de.
cay of teeth in smokers is slow, unnotice
! able due to a slow, gradual mortifica tor
| OF the pulp of the teeth Moreover. The
solid particles of the smoke are deposited
upon the depressions IN the enamel, ant
thus preserve the teeth from decay.
In spite of this, however, when the mu-
cous membrane of the mouth is irritated
|
otherwise the affection will be aggwy-
ated, but it will often suffice if the trri.
| tat1on is decreased by the use of less
pungent tobacco and by cooling The
smoke Smoking tobacco allays certain
forms of gastralgia and blunts the ur.
gent desire for food common in certain
nervous cases. and, on the other hand
] its moderate use after meals stimulates
torpid digestion. This is true, tecbni cal-
| ly speaking. to an excitation of the sail
vary glands. which leads to a similar OK.
citation of the gastro-intestinaI glands.
If one abuses tobacco this excitatior
just mentioned IS exaggerated and a ca.
tarrh Of the stomach ensues. character
lzed by lack of appetite fiatulence
cramps, acidity, nausea and even yonit
! ing
Still abuse of tobacco has been recon-.
! mended as a medical treatment I'm
hermann, for example, thinks it ought to
be recommended in the treatment nj
obesity, because it lessons the craving:
of hunger and thirst and would Thus al.
low the use of a limited ;iet. but as
suredly in this case the remedy is worst
i than the disease
| smoking tobacco has been recommend
ed In certain nervous conditions of the
digestive tract and organs. Duiardin-
Beaumetz prescribed it in a. case of nys-
| terra, complicated by persistent vomiting
| GTSering the patient to smoke a cigarette
after eacn zeal The vomiting ceased,
but always recurring if the cigarette
was omitted, DR.. eros also recommended
the same treatment in cases OF otherw::,Sa
uncomfortable vomiting.
AS for gastric affections attributed to
the use of tobacco, they are more often
due to alcohol frequent accompaniment
OF the smoking habit, but not necessarily