Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1903-11-05
HOW CIGARETTES
DAMAGE HUMANITY
Edison Offers a Scientific Explanation
Containing Some New Ideas.
EFFECTS DEADLY ON The SYSTEM.
AcrOlCin, an Ingredient in the Paper Lib
Grated by Combustion, d Deadly
Poison, EiiectDg the
Nerves.

Grated by Combustion, Deadly
Poison, Eilecting the
Nerves.
The Chicago Tribune prints the follow
ing article of special interest to cigarette
smokers
The true cause of the harm done by the
smoking of cigarettes has been discovered
by Thomas A. Edison, the inventor. 1t is
not nicotine, as has been the general be-
lief, but a chemical ingredient called aero
lein, which is released by the burning Of
the paper.
Mr.. Edison, who always has warred on
the cigarette, yesterday gave in detail the
reasons for his opposition to the use of to.
bacco in that form. He said;
1.-The smoking of cigarettes is one of the
worst, most offensive and harmful habits
acquired by man. 1t ought to be against
the law to sell or to smoke them.
"Now, I'm not doctor nor pathologist,
but ! am a chemist, and l have studied
cigarettes pretty thoroughly.
"Let it be understood in the beginning,
therefore, that it is not the tobacco that's
harmful, although the finely cat mixture
of which cigarettes are made is consumed
SO entirely that the smoke does some in
jury to the throat and lungs. But the
deadly part is the paper-always the pa
per. The smoke from burning cigarette
paper contains a poisonous substance
called acrolein (arid). It's the part of
smoke that makes you cry when it gets in
your eyes or up your nose.
ave were making phonograph cylinders
one day, and in the saponi6catlon and
burning of the glycerin the wax caught
fire. Well, we had to run for our lives,
almost. 1t stranged us and set the mus
cles all over our bodies twitching.
"Then l 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 Gig.
arettes are harmless. They're bad. The
best rice paper produces a slightly smaller
quantity of acrolein, but they all lberate
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 the
smoke is mild compared with the effect of
acrolein on human nerves.
cts through absorption by the mucous
tissues that it gets in its deadly work.
The mucous membranes Of the mouth, ma
sal passages, and the throat have strange
affinity for the stuff, and it is taken di-
rectly into the circulation and then shat
ters the nerves,
"YUur nerves, you know, are the tele-
graph lines of your body, and when the
lines are out of order there's trouble all
over.
"Not long ago one of my men was
working with glycerin, when it took fire.
The flames nearly smothered him, and he
staggered out of the shop looking like
person with the palsy; his face was work
ing and every muecle was quivering and
trembling In the fresh air he soon re-
vived, but it goes to show the powerful
effect of the stuff. Why, if one were to
break tiny vial of it in my big laboratory
we'd all have to get out instantly.
NERVES CRAVE THE POISON.
"The poison is absorbed by the mucous
Innings of the mouth and lungs directly
from the smoke, and the dread feature is
that after you have smoked awhile the
nerves crave the stimulating effect and
you become slave to the habit, just like
whiskey topper or a morphine dend.
"Legslate against it, that is the proper
course. The law doesn't allow the adul-
teration of food, does it; and you can't
buy poison in the crude form, can you; so
why should the government allow mill
lions on millions of filthy cigarettes to be
manufactured and sold every year,
81 don't know what we're coming 70
nowadays, It's always something for the
stimulation of the neryes-whiskey, spir-
Its, cocaine, morphine, cigarettes and
frightful inventions for whirling upside
down in a loopthe. loop-everything to
excite the nerves. That's what the people
want.
THROW SYSTEM OUT OF ORDER.
"But about cigarettes. They do SC
much damage l's hard to know where to
begin. By their evil effects on the nerves
they, of course, throw the whole physlca
system out of order, and especially the
digestive organs.
"The medulla obongata is the large
nerve that controls the action OF the stom
ach. and the effect of the acrolein is to ex
cite an undue flow of the peptic juices anc
to waste them when the stomach is empty
And your cigarette smoker has 20 regarC
for the condition of his stomach. III
smokes when he goes to bed, and h'