The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-15
CIGARETTES
EDISON TELLS WHY THEY ARE
 so HARMFUL.
Poisin is in the Paper. Evil Caused by a Chemical Ingedient Called Acrolein, Which Is Releas-
 leased by the Burning Of the Wrapper.

West Orange, N. J., Letter.
 The true cause of the harm done py the smoking of cigarettes has been dis covered by Thomas A. Edison, the in- yentor. It is. not nicotine. as has been the general belief, but chemical 1ngre- dient called acrolein, which Is released by the burning of the paper.
 MT. Edison who always has warred on the cigarette, to-day gave in detail the reasons for his opposition to the use or tobacco in that form. He said:
 'rIhe smoking of cigarettes Is one or the worst, most offensive and harmful habits acquired by man. It ought to be against the law to sell or to smoke them.
 Now, I am not doctor nor pathol- gist. but I am a chemist, and l have studied cigarettes thoroughly.
 Let 1t be understood in the beginning, therefore, that it is not the tobacco that harmful, although the finely cut mix consumed so entirely that the smoke does some injury to the throat and lungs. But the deadly part is the paper-al- ways the paper. The smoke from a burn ing cigarette contains a poisonous SUD- stance called acrolein (acrid) It's the part of smoke that makes you cry when 1t gets in your eyes or up your nose.
 we were making pAlOIluSidph S5hh- ders one day, and in the saponifcation and burning of the glycerin the wax caught fire. We'll. we had to run for our lives, almost. It strangled us and set the muscles all over our bodies twitching.
 'Then I made some tests to see just what the stuff was, and I've found that what Is known as acrolein Is liberated In the combustion of any fiber made of wood pulp and other substances.
 Best Paper is Harmful.
 Don't tell me that the high priced cigarettes are harmless. They're bad. The best rice paper produces slightly small CT quantity of acrolein, but they all lib- crate it, and they are all harmful Now, A good many physicians think the only harm in cigarettes is the inhalation of the smoke. Why, the effect of inhaling smoke is mild compared with the effect of acrolein on human nerves
 'Its through absorption by the mu- cous tissues that it gets in its deadly work. The mucous membranes of the mouth nasal passages and the throat have a strange affinity for the stuff. and it is taken directly into the circulation and then shatters the nerves.
 ''Your nerves, you know, arc the tele- rraph line of your body, and when the lines are out of order there's trouble all over.
 Mot long ago one of my men was working with glycerin when 1t took fire. The flames nearly smothered him, and he staggered out of the shop looking like A. person with the palsy; his face was working and every muscle was quiv- ering and trembling. In the fresh air he soon revived. but 1t goes to show the powerful effect the stuff. Why. if one were to break a tiny vial of it in my big laboratory we'd all have to get but instanter.
 "The poison is absorbed by the mucous Things of the mouth and lungs directly from the smoke, and the dread feature ia that after you have smoked a while the nerves crave the stimulating effect and you become a slave to the habit, just like a whiskey toper or morphine fiend.