The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-05-29

ing 1t in excess. In the first case,
the man should be the judge of his
own requirements in the way of to-
Dacco consumption. If the weed in
terferes with his health or comfort,
lie Will be acting only a common
sense part by renouncing its use alto
gether. There is in this case no mid
die course. While for the vast ma
Jorfty of men smoking presents itself
as a habit which has for its outcome
the production of a soothing and
canning influence, there are individ-
uals upon whom 1t acts either with
poisonous effect, or at least may be
productive of injury.
me effects of tobacco, when taken
IN excess, on the nervous system are
manifested in different ways. There
Is first disturbance of digestion, then
eye symptoms may be prevalent, end
ing In temporary loss of sight or to-
bacco amaurosis, as it is professionally
termed. The further action of to-
hacco is seen in irregularity of the
action of the heart, producing what
medical men call smokers heart"
The pulse is irregular and the hearts
action enfeebled. with the result that
the general nutrition of the body be-
comes in due time affected Irrita-
blllty of the nervous system due to
the depression induced by the excess
will also appear, and the otherwise
beneficial effect of tobacco is thus
converted into a positive evil. The
remedy for this state of matters is,
of course, obvious. The doctor will
advise complete remuneration of to-
bacco, he will probably order tonics,
and II the individual is completely run
down, change of air will also be pre-
Scribed.
l may here refer to one phase of
the tobacco question, which of late
years has come. prominently into
view. 1 allude to the habit of cigar
cite smoking at large, and to the in
dulgence by women of this form of
enjoyment. The cigarette is no doubt
convenient and handy method of
enjoying a. whiff, but it is an insidi-
Gus form of tobacco smoking, see
ing that the consumption of cigarettes
by the ordinary smoker per day tends,
as regards the amount of tobacco and
the effects thereby induced to ex-
coed both phases as witnessed in the
average man who smokes pipe or
cigar. avs e- ~-e..
There are many men who appear
to smoke cigarettes from morning to
night, and even the dinner table is
not sacred from tobacco fumes In
addition to the danger of excess thus
induced, we have to take into consid-
Grafton the facts of inhaling the
fumes of the paper and the results
of this feature of cigarette smoking
en- the throat. My contention is that
there is greater danger of injurious
excess in the matter of cigarette habit
than where tobacco is consumed In
pipe OR cigars. -a-
On women one may we'll be con-
WINGED that the effects of tobacco are
much more easily produced than in
men. The woman's nervous system
is, speaking generally, of more
highly strung character than that of
the men. She is more active in
thought, more intuitive, more keen in
her perceptions than her lord and
master, and, physiologically speaking,
her nervous system is therefore more
liable to develop the unstable state.
Cigarette smoking by women may
physfologtcally not be condemned.
whatever society manners or the
canons of good taste may have to
say to the practice, but medical men
know of the irritable hearts and like
symptoms being the inevitable results
OF even moderate Indulgence, in to-
bacco by many Women. 'ff''
Arguments here seem to lie in the
direction of advising women to be
more than careful of the tobacco
habit. 1t is a. feature of their nerv-
Gus constitution that the effects en-
gendered in them are of much more
decided character than in the oppo-
eit q