TOBACCO BLINDNESS IN A WOMAN.
By John Harvey Kellogg
A PROMINENT oculist recently reported a case of tobacco blindness in a woman of apparently cultivated and refined habits. Not suspecting the real cause, the doctor made a very thorough investigation of the cause, and was much puzzled to determine its real nature. “She laughed heartily, and then confessed that she did smoke a good deal. Naturally, I desired to know how one with her education and refinement had acquired a habit so unusual for ladies. Her history was soon told: ‘I married when quite young, and went to live with my husband in North Carolina, where he had a very large farming interest. He owned so extensive a tract of land that neighbors were far away, and I saw but little of them. I have had no children, and during many long winters my husband and myself have been the sole occupants of our country house. My husband had always been devoted to his pipe, which he takes up as soon as he gets into the house after overseeing his farm work. Often during our early months of married life, he would call upon me to fill it for him, and at times would even dare me to light it. By degrees I found myself able to take several whiffs of tobacco smoke without discomfort. At his request, I learned to smoke, as he said, for companionship; and for many years I have taken my pipe with regularity.’” We believe in woman’s rights, and believe that a woman has just as good a right to be afflicted by tobacco blindness as a man has; and why should not women “smoke for companionship”? It always seemed to us very selfish for a man to sit down in the midst of his family, and enjoy his pipe all to himself. Why not let his wife smoke with him, and allow all the children to smoke small pipes or cigarettes, also? If tobacco is necessary for the father, it is just as important for the mother; and certainly the children ought not to be denied a “harmless luxury”—J. H. Kellogg, M. D., in Good Health.