The Redwood gazette., 1902-04-30
CIGARETTE, CIGAR AND fIPE.
London Lancet.

London Lancet.
Whatever may be the expla-s
nation as to why smoking in
the form Of cigarettes has be-
come SO enormously popular
during the past decade, there
can be no denying that popu.
larity from the fact that il has
lead to a very sharp industrial
war. Millions Of public mon
ey has been invested in cigar
cite making companies. Gig
arettes are the subject Of adj
vertisenent in daily papers on
an enormous scale utterly in
comparable with that on which
tobacco and cigars are adver-
tised.
The reason is not far to seek:
the cigarette is cheap, and,
more than that, it is a conven-
lent form of "smoke". The
good cigar is not cheap, is COM
paratively bulky, and it takes
some time to finish. The pipe
must be kept clean, it requires
to be filled, and a pouch must
be carried to contain the tobac-
co. The cigarette is ready to
smoke, scores can be carried in
the pocket, and one can be
smoked in a snatched quarter
of an hour. The cigarette is,
therefore, popular, probably
mainly because of it's conven-
ience.
That being so it is impor-
tant to consider whether cigar
cite smoking is more injurious
in respect to health than is
the smoking of a cigar or pipe.
To begin with, a much milder
tobacco.can be smoked in Gig
arettes than in the pipe, and so
far this fact is in favor of the
cigarette. The usually mild
tobacco in the cigarette is "hot'
in the pipe. The cigarette is
practically in direct contact
with the air from the lighted
end to the mouthpiece, and
thus the smoke is invaria bly,
cool, while the products of con-
bustion are calculated to be
complete. The pipe, on the
other hand, is more like a retort
in which to some extent de-
structive distillation with the
formation Of acrid oils is set
up. One very strong objection
to the cigarette, however, is
that the area of combustion is
very close to the nose and
mouth and thus air is con-
stantly and invariably inhaled
containing smoke from the
lighted end which is usually Of
a very pungent type, infini-
tely more pungent than is the
smoke drawn through the Gig
arctic.
Much of the mischief from
cigarette smoking arises from
this fact, the cigarette being
persistently held in the mouth
until burning of the lips is
threatened. If the smoke from
the burning tip Of a cigarette
be purposely inhaled for a time
a sense Of stupor sets in, while
the smoke drawn through the
cigarette may be breathed in
the same way with compara-
tive impunity. The same re-
suit is obtained with the cigar,
but in a still more emphatic
way. The use of the cigarette
or cigar holder is, therefore,
calculated to obviate two sour
ces of nischief-the inhalation
of the powerful pungent smoke
from the lighted end and the
introduction of tobacco juice
and oils into the mouth. A
long and cleanly Kept pipe
filled with mild tobacco pre-
serves the smoker against both
contingencies.
When, however, the cigar
cite is nationally smoked, and
not to excess, it is probably the
mildest form of smoking, and
this fact, coupled with it's con-
venience and cheapness, is a
sufficient reason for it's inn
mense popularity. And it is
interesting that the tobacco
war arose, not on occount of
the pipe or cigar, but because
of the cigarette.