The news=record. [volume] (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon) 1907-1910, 1907-10-24
HARM IN SMOKING.
English Phyuician Says Greatest
Danger Lies in OverinduIgence.

English PhySician Says Greatest
Danger Lies in OverinduIgence.
Smokers are frequently tempted to
Increase their consumption of tobacco,
In proportion to the extension of leis-
ure at command, says Pearson's Week
ly. Smoking exerts a special fascina-
tion when 1t may be indulged every
moment throughout the day. The
temptation has always been found diff
ficult to resist, when 1t besets a man
who is on holiday bent. The mere abb
sence Of restrictions tends to induce
pleasure seekers to be more free than
they otherwise would.
The two grounds upon which smok-
ing is condemned, which appear
worthy of serious consideration, are
the poisonous action of the nicotine
and the useless expenditure entailed.
Let us take the latter objection first.
That tobacco Is necessity for
health or happiness no sane person
would ever contend. All that its most
devoted friends can claim is' that smok-
Ing Is an inexpensive luxury. A lux
| ury, in fact, that affords an amount
Of enjoyment out of all proportion to
| Its trifling cost.
More serious harm results from lack
of self-control with regard to dietary
than is ever likely to follow from even
an excessive use of tobacco. Indeed
there is not single thing we enjoy,
though 1t be perfectly right and law.
full in itself, that is not equally open
to some similar objection.
Perhaps the strongest argument sup
posed to tell against the smoker is
based upon the poisonous action of mic
otine when 1t has entered the circula
tory system. This lntoXication ha:
never been disputed, for it inevitably
follows a too extravagant consumption
Of tobacco. Yet it Is only when The
smoking is excessive that any banefu
influence Is eXerted on the health.
body.
Exactly the same kind of toxic prop
critics that nonsmokers ascrlbe to to
bacco attach to other vegetable growth
In common and daily use.
Now, what are the conditions so FIRE
Quently described as the direct out
come of excessive smoking? They ar
but two in number. /. An altere,
rhythm In the beating Of the heart
and 2, an Impairment Of visiop, whic
reduces the power of distlngulshin
colors
These conditions are never brough
about unless the smoking has been cal
!. ried to unwarrantable excess. Whe
either of them is detected, whether b
the physician or the smoker himsel
there is ample warning to put ma
on his guard. If he is prompted
reduce his consumption of tobacco, c
to abandon smoking altogether, II
trouble soon clears up, and no perm
7 nent injury Is the least likely to e.
sue.
The late Prof. Huxley once wrote
a "There Is no more harm in pipe thf
: there Is in cup Of tea. You ms
poison yourself by drinking too mu'
0 tea, or kill yourself by eating too maj
+ beaksteaks."
J. DR.. Lancaster said: II dare not as
5. Psychologist or a statist tell you tn
there exists any proof Of an injuriol
influence (of tobacco) when used
moderation. The first symptoms
: giddiness, palpitation, Incidence, or al
| uneaslness while smoking should !
g duce you to lay 1t aside"
9 OF course, whether at home or
u holiday, If man stubbornly persists
smoking after 1t shows signs Of di
agreement, he must expect to have
pay for 1t. If man who ordinari
smokes, say, two ounces a week do
bes or trebles this quantity as a no
. day pleasure, then his smoking la
II him open to serious risks.