Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-15
EVILS OF TOBACCO
Injurious Effects of Cigarette
Smoking on Boys. !.
STUNTS BRAIN AND BODY
A Pernicious Habit Against Which
Parents Should Protect
Their Children.
From the Medical Times.

From the Medical Times
At no time in the history of this coun-
try has the smoking of cigarettes been
SO common a practice among growing
boys as today. At no other period have
conditions In this land been so strenuous
as at present. The strife for professional
and mercantile success has necessarily
become stronger and stronger during the
development of this great republic
The parents of our boys have had to go
through a period of industrial develop
1nent during the past fifteen to twenty
years which has never been reached or
surpassed by any other country. With
business or failure comes great mental
stra1n and no matter how much we try
10 dodge the issues such conditions pre-
dispose to nerve strain i'm the individual
and by virtue of heredity so acquired
many boys have a nervous inheritance.
winch can be only combatted by the mos,
simple life and hyglenic surround ngs In
our schools the strife for high honors tn.
necessity of study and application to keey
up to grade, has its effect i'm DEMANDING
a certain amount of the reserve menIst
force of every boy at the schoui age
There Is always natural demand on u,
energy of each boy which must be met
II they are to start life on Il firm foun
uauon for future usefulness.
Between the ages of ten and eighteen
Dogs pass through the period of great
est physical development The bony
lrameWork enlarges and becomes NOR,
compact, the muscles round out, weight
increases and the body begins to show the
flrst signs of oncomng manhood This
Is the time when one must be most care
1ul II he Is to develop into a strong. Wig
orous man. During this period of great
est development one has no right to do
anything which will prevent the best use
of his physical and mental powers. What
fuence on the brain, and if dissipation of
any kind is carried on, the body as
whole must suffer.
Habits which have a depressing in
huence should be Stunned by the grow
ing lad. Bad habits make their last
ing impression at this age, and it often
takes years to get rid of the effects
OF wrongdoing during the period when
nature makes her greatest demand OH
the physical side. If a boy would re-
alize that he has no right to smoke or
use tobacco before he Is twenty, es-
pecially cigarettes, the problem would
easily be solved. Unfortunately, the
example of elders is generally followed.
f9ster If they rise to that estate
through the medium of smoke wreaths.
Effect on the Heart.
Tobacco if used to excess has de-
pressing influence on the heart and on
the central nervous system of the full
grown man, to say nothing of a boy.
Many times we hear men say Il must
give up tobacco, it does me harm and
| cannot keep well and use it, If it has
such a depressing effect on strong men,
how much worse will 1t injure a growing
boy. The tobacco heart. SO called is a
common thing among inveterate smokers
Imagine youngsters. just past the cradle
age. trif1ing with such a powerful agent.
l quote from experienced medical men
who have made the cigarette habit a
study. Goodno says: Cigarette smoking
is frequent cause of nervous disease
Snader In examination of the hearts of
thirty-two tobacco smokers between the
having started the habit during their
childhood). found that in all cases to-
bacco increased the action of the heart
and diminished it's force. Townsend
states from his experience and observa-
ton that the use of tobacco in early life
exerts inhibitory influence. He also says
that 1t acts as a great irritant to the
mucous membrane of the nose and throat
and that cigarette smoking is especially
deleterious because most cigarette smok-
ers inhale. and in this manner the pois-
onous principles reach a much larger alb
sorbng area. kraft-Ebbing says that
the excessive use of tobacco may induce
mental disease just as 1t produces nervous
disease Sir William Osler speaks of the
irritable heart of smokers seen particu-
larly in young lads. the symptoms of
which are palpitation. irregularity and
rapid action. The American Textbook
of Physiology states that tobacco acts
profoundly on the protoplasm of the
nerve, increasing it's excitability. thus
gradually destroying its function. Kerr
states that tobacco in excess is a fertile
cause of heart trouble. of dyspepsia, de-
bility. loss of vision. ETC., but it is widely
different in action from alcohol and the
other intoxicants which have been under
consideration.
Cause of Many Disorders.
No husbands are charged with killing
their wives or assaulting their children
fhrouph tohacco's exceSS}ye usa No aoto