The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1910-06-09

FROM the New 1Ork Woriu.
The question as to which of the three
forms of smoking, the pipe-the cigar
ct or the eigar-introduces h great
est proportion of nicotine into the
smokers system has Just been n
swered by the London Lancet in favor
of the pipe. That is the pipe is given
first place as the least harmful form of
tobacco smoking then the cigarette and
lastly the cigar.
AT one time it was freely asserted
that the tobacco which contained the
highest amount of nicotine necessarily
tended to be the most injurious no mat
ter in what form it was smoked, but
the Lancet points out that 1t is the
form of smoking instead of he guam
tity of nicotine wat plays the most
important part.
There was a theory that not in all
three cases was the original nicotine
in the tobacco conveyed as such to the
mouth; sometimes it was destroyed by
effective combustion, while at other
times pyridine was responsible for toxic
effects. According to this theory,
which was all on the right track, the
cigaret was least harmful, because
the tobacco along the thin paper
was exposed freely to the air,
and as a consequence the was
we'll burnt and all nicotine was de-
stroyed.
Against this 1t was held that In such
a case one poison disappeared only for
another one to be elaborated, and car
bon monoxide was found in marked
quantity as a poisonous constituent OF
cigaret smoke. AS a matter of fact,
carbon monoxide is invariably found in
all tobacco smoke, and that circum-
stance should be sufficient to warn all
smokers against tnhaling 1t persist
emily.
Theories as to what happens in the
combustion of tobacco In the various
ways 1t is smoked next took into ac-
count the extent to which condensation
products were formed and retained in
the tobacco. The most effective con-
denser of course ia the pipe, and there
can be little doubt that owing to the
length Of the stem a comparatively
small portion Of these condensation
products reaches the mouth. In the
cigar, on the contrary, the ~condensinG
process has a tendency to travel
throughout the cigar: at all events, as
the cigar gets shorter the condensed
product area gradually reaches the
mouth and eventually the products are
conveyed there by the heat Of the
burning end.
1t has been said by connoisseurs tina,
no cigar is worth smoking after one
half Of 1t has been consumed, which
seems to be a practical realization O.
theoretical considerations very suitable
for application by m%illionaires. Again
a cigar that has been partially smoked
and then allowed to go out is decid
eddy unpleasant when re-lit, OWING
doubtless to the spread Of condensation
products to the mouth end.
In the cas- Of the pipe, the burning
area is always in the same place; 1
never comes nearer the mouth. an
therefore the probability is that tn
condensation products do not reach tn,
mouth in, at n rate, appreciate
quantities. In the cigaret the con
densatior products eventually reacl
the mouth, but there is in this case les
chance Of condensation products form
ing since the combustion is unham
pered, the tobacco being freely in con
| tact with the air. The amount Of nico
tine reaching the mouth does not nee
essarily depend on the amount in tn
tobacco, but or the form in which 1t 1
smoked. In drawing this conclusion
regard must Of course be had to tn
y .,ent4t Of tobacco smoked. but II tn
conclusion is correct, the pipe woul
come first as the least harmful form c
tobacco smoking, Their the cigare'
and lastly the cigar.