The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-07
GOOD WORDS FOR THE WEED
WHAT PHYSICIANS HAVE SAID IN
 FAVOR OF TOBACCO.

FAVOR OF TOBACCO.
 But in All These Expressions They
 Speak of its Moderate Use and Not ol
 its Abuse-Excess Advised for Obesity
 Smoking Protects Against Mi.
 crObes.
 The unbiased mind cannot deny that there are certain benefits in the mode rate use of tobacco. Almost every den- tist acknowledges that it has benef- cial action upon the teeth, an action attributed to the neutralizing alcalinity of the smoke and to the antiseptic qualities of nicotine and pyridine, which destroy the vitality of microbes which would otherwise thrive and null tiply in the mouth. Claude Bernard further believes that the minute quan- titles of prusSic acid in tobacco is evap- orized and contributes to asepsis in the mouth.
 Smoking certainly relieves the tooth ache, and Dr. Hepburn affirms that de- Suy Ol liC lSSlll III SlHChCIS IS SlOW uiiu unnoticeable. due to a slow, gradual modification of the pulp of the teeth. Moreover. the solid particles of the smoke are deposited upon the depres- sions in the enamel and thus preserve the teeth from decay.
 In spite of this, however, when the mucous membrane of the mouth is irri- tated 1t is necessary to abstain from smoking, otherwise the affection will be exaggerated, but it will often suffice if the irritation is decreased by the use of less pungent tobacco and by cooling the 6moke 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 due, techni- cally speaking, to an eXcitation of the salivary glands, which leads to a simi- lar excitation of the gastro-intestinal glands. If one abuses tobacco this ex- citation just mentioned Is exaggerated and a catarrh of the stomach ensues, characterized by lack of appetite, flat ulence, cramps, acidity, nausea and even vomiting. Still, abuse of tobacco has been recommended as medicinal treatment. Immermann, for example thinks 1t ought to be recommended in the treatment of obesity because it lessens the cravings of hunger and thirst and ould thus allow the use of a limited diet, but assuredly in this case the remedy Is worse than the disease.
 Smoking tobacco has been recom- iy, fojr conditions of the digestive tract and organs. Du- jardin- -Beaumetz prescribed it in case of hysteria, complicated by persistent vomiting, ordering the patient to smoke cigarette after each meal The vom- iting ceased, but always recurred if the cigarette was omitted. Dr. Gros also recommended the same treatment in cases of otherwise uncomfortable vom- tting.
 As for gastric affections attributed to the use of tobacco, they are more often due to alcohol, a frequent accomiment of the smoking habit, but not necessa- rily so, for many excessive smokers are exemplary temperance men.
 Trousseau says that the parasitic power of tobacco is beyond dispute. Tobacco smoke is obnoxious to mo- squitoes, mice and other vermin. Bou- chardet claims that tobacco preserves the workmen from the itch. Parent Duchatelet contends that it protects workn1en in epidemics, stating that to- bacco workers in Lyons have been kept free from typhoid fever, at Mortaix from dysentery, at Tonnets from mii- tary levers, at Seville from cholera Jadis, Willis and -Diemerbroeck claim the same prot otective influence In the plague. Pechollier claims that in our own day tobacco smoke is most pow erful destroyer of microbes. He says for a long time this herb of all evil has been recognized as preservative against intestinal worms and parasitic insects. More than this, Pechollier re- marks that anatomists smoke pipes; hunters regard tobacco as the best pre- eervative against intermittent fever, while Vicomte Simeon proved that in certain degree it checks the develop ment of phthisis
 A military writer recommends the use of tobacco in the barracks and in camp as protection against morbiflc emanations, and in some cases its use is ordered by the authorities Tobacco surely prevents putrefaction and infec- tions by miasma Robin has shown pieces of meat preserved four months in perfect condition after prolonged exposure to tobacco smoke. Dutch physicians believe that to the use of tobacco the prevention of malaria is largely due. In fact, without being an absolute antiseptic, the action of to- bacco smoke is one of the least injuri- ous and the least disagreeable methods of preventing infection, the elements of the smoke penetrating the digestive and respiratory passages, which are the doors for the entrance of nor bific germs.
 Bourgon believes that tobacco smoke prevents infection by influenza, the smoke in this case acting as a screen, moist, cold air from reach- ing the lungs directly and also exert | ing special sedative influence upon the nervous system, which plays an l important part in the development and | of the grip. Be that as it | may, observation shows that in epidem- ics of the grip smokers form a small | of those afflicted. In the | south phvsiciane claim that great |