The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1903-01-23
SUBSTITUTES FOR TOBACCO.
Worse Than the Weed Itself, According
: to British Medical Authority.

to British Medical Authority.
How would you enjoy a. :plpeful Of
wood shavings. saturated with strong
solution of pepper, as an after-dinner
smoke? Strange as this may seem as a
substitute for tobacco, it is nevertheless
used as such by Indians along the Alas
Kan coast. Their mouths are often made
raw Dy the practice, and the eyesiglt OF
many is affected BY the strong fumes.
1t is no uncommon practice among farm
ers to smoke the leaves of the tomato and
potato plants. While these plants both
contain a. narcotic poison, the smoking Of
leaves in moderation is harmless. Excess
slve use, though, produces a heavy stu
por. from which the smoker >awakes with
terrific headache and a feeling of utter
exhaustion. Insanity and suicide have
otten been caused by the immoderate use
OF these two weeds. Rhubarb, beet, and
even garden sage Leaves, are all smoked
by farmers, but are perhaps the least
harmful Of substitutes for tobacco. =
IN Jamaica "ganjah,' a variety Of In
dlan hemp, is smoked by all classes with
terrible results. 1t is stated that it was
OF the Indian Mutiny to drive the Sepovs
into the passions Of raging mania which
they exhibited during that campaign.
Ganjah smoking affects the beginner in
a peculiar way. While under its in1lu-
ence his senses of time, sound and dis
lance are obliterated.> A single inmate
may ma seem month, a ch1ld's voice sound
little finger may seem mile long. "Con-
tlnued use,' says the Spatula, ~causes
raving, homicidal madness-' @CoHsfoot
tobacco" is smoked by the rustics in
small country places in England, and is
called by them the finest remedy on
earth for catarrh." 1t is simply a pow
a oe1 form Of the leaves Of the common
coltsfoot, plant found growing wild in
chalky soil. The smoke causes no terri
PIE after effects, although some say that
1t is injurious to the eyes, and it certain
~ does relieve difficult breathing.
In Switzerland weed found growing
In the Alps, called mountain tobacco, is
smoked in great quantities Like 1'colts-
loot tobacco" it is powdered before US
ing, and causes the smoker to become a
mental and physical wreck. Dried holly
leaves, the bark of the willow tree, and
leaves of the stagshorn sumach are all
smoked by the American Indians. and
are the least harmful of the substitutes
for tobacco. Indian tobacco or the
leaf Of kind of lobelia, is smoked extern
sayely, and is extremely poisonous.
"rombeki," another species Of the To-
bella, largely used in Asia, is smoked in a
water pipe, and produces a decided un-
pleasant odor. Those who smoke it reg
ularly become intensely nervous, and are
subject to curious hallucinations. In the
Bahamas cascarilla bark is another mar
cote that destroys the health and. mind
Of the smoker. Natives Of Central
America are inveterate users Of pimento
tobacco, which they make from dried
pimento berries, or allspice. 1t invaria-
oily gives the smoker a sore throat, and
natives Of South Africa are affected in n
peculiar manner by the. smoke from the
dried leaves of the camphor plant. The
smoker trembles with fright at nothing.
weeps bitterly, and uses all sorts of
words which do not in the least express
his meaning. The wild dagga, another
South African plant, poisens slowly any
who use it.-Family Doctor.