ON THE USE OF TOBACCO

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Jul 24, 1855

ON THE USE OF TOBACCO.

IN an age of general "reform" like the present, when the public mind is interested and excited to action against the prevailing habits and customs of the age which have a deleterious influence upon the community, is it not a little surprising that so extensively prevalent and so great an evil as the habitual use of tobacco should have passed almost entirely unnoticed? It is believed that it can be easily shown that this custom is not to be ranked among the least of the prevailing evils that are spreading ruin and desolation throughout the country. It is also believed that the want of correct information upon the nature and tendency of this plant is the principal cause of its extensive use. For although there have been several able treatises published upon this subject, viz., Dr. A. Clarke's, Dr. Rush's, Dr. M'Allister's, and a few pertinent remarks in several treatises on intemperance; yet they have been published under such circumstances as place them out of the reach of the great body of the community, and consequently there is but little information generally diffused abroad upon this subject.

It is intended to collect together, and embody in this tract, medical testimony and stubborn facts; which, it is hoped, will at least have some influence in checking the increase of this habit, and I take this opportunity to acknowledge myself indebted to the above named treatises for the most of the information herein contained. This tract is presented to the community principally as a preventive; not with the expectation that it will reform many who are already addicted to this habit; for these persons, like those confirmed in habits of intemperance, are lost to the influence of motives, of arguments, and of facts. I would say, in the language of another, "I am not so vain as to imagine that those who have been long attached to the pipe, the snuff box or the quid will pay much regard to what I have written on the subject. I know too much of human nature to expect that where the passions are strongly influenced, and obstinate habits contracted, much attention will be paid to rational argumentation. I write not to convince these; I have labored with many of them long, and almost in vain. Demonstration to such is mere cobweb: but I write to prevent those from continuing in the practice who have just begun; and those from beginning who are not yet under the power of this scandalous, bewitching, and destructive habit. What I have done I have done in the fear of God, and with the simple desire to be useful to my brethren."

"If," says Dr. M'Allister, "in the prosecution of this inquiry, we shall be able to discover the great and injurious effects which the habitual use of this poisonous plant produces on the constitution, I shall be excused if I urge this subject on your consideration, with more than ordinary importunity."

I propose to present the subject in the following order: I. Its nature—embracing its chemical properties and medical qualities. II. The modes of using it; viz., snuffing, smoking and chewing. III. Its effects, physical and moral.

I. THE NATURE OF THE PLANT, CHEMICAL AND MEDICAL.

1. Its chemical properties.—It has been found, by chemical analysis, to produce an essential oil, which is extremely poisonous in its nature. The effects of which may be known by the following experiments, made by Fontana, who ranks it among the vegetable poisons. 1. "I made," says he, "a small incision in a pigeon's leg, and applied to it the oil of tobacco. In two minutes it lost the use of its foot. 2. I repeated the experiment on another pigeon, and the event was exactly the same. 3. I made a small wound in the pectoral muscles of a pigeon, and applied the oil to it; in three minutes the animal could no longer support itself on its left foot. 4. This experiment, repeated on another pigeon, resulted in the same way. 5. I introduced into the pectoral muscles of a pigeon a small bit of wool covered with this oil; the pigeon in a few seconds fell insensible. 6. Two other pigeons, to whose muscles I applied this oil, vomited several times all they had eaten. 7. Two others, with empty stomachs, treated in the same mode, made every effort to vomit." Various other experiments prove that an application of this plant in almost any way will produce the same effect. "Chemists observe that tobacco leaves, distilled in a retort without addition, yield an acrid, empyreumatic, poisonous oil." Koempfer, also, ranks it with the strong vegetable poisons. A single drop of this oil, put on the tongue of a cat, produced violent convulsions, and killed her in the space of one minute. A thread dipped in the same oil, and drawn through a wound, made by a needle in an animal, killed it in the space of seven minutes. How then can any man habitually use so noxious a plant without realizing the most serious consequences to his health and constitution?

2. Its medical qualities.—It is considered to be a most powerful narcotic, emetic, cathartic, and diuretic. Its effects, as a medicine, upon the system, are severe nausea and vomiting, cold sweats, universal tremors, and extreme debility. As an emetic, it is said to exceed all others in its promptness, violence, and permanence of impression. It is said to be peculiarly efficacious in expelling other poisons from the stomach, on account of the promptness and violence with which it acts, and can be applied as well externally, in the form of a poultice to the stomach, as internally, and with the same effect. It has been tried in a few cases of this kind with success, when all other remedies failed. Dr. Fowler has also used it with success in a few cases of dropsy and dysury, "but it should be remembered that not one of his cures was effected by the pipe, the quid, or the snuff box. The forms in which he uniformly ordered it were either infusion, tincture, or pills." But, even as a medicine, it should be used with the utmost caution; for it, as a remedy, often proves more fatal than the disease, which the following facts will show. "A medical practitioner," says Paris, "after repeated trials to reduce a strangulated hernia, injected an infusion of tobacco, and shortly after sent the patient in a carriage to the Westminster Hospital, for the purpose of undergoing the operation; but the unfortunate man arrived only a few minutes before he expired."

"I know a woman," says the same learned author, "who applied to the heads of three of her children, afflicted with the scald head, an ointment composed of snuff and butter; but what was the poor woman's surprise, to find them immediately seized with vertigo, violent vomiting, fainting, and convulsions." "Tobacco," says a certain author, "is in fact an absolute poison. A very moderate quantity introduced into the system—even applying the moistened leaves over the stomach—has been known very suddenly to extinguish life." This plant then should not be used even as a medicine, except in extreme cases, and in the hands of a very skillful physician. "For every man to take it into his own hands, and undertake to determine when, and how much is necessary for him, is just as absurd and as dangerous as if he were to prescribe and deal out arsenic, or corrosive sublimate, or calomel. Nor can the man in health do it, to gratify his appetite, without certain injury to his constitution. He may not perceive injurious effects for years, on account of immediate exhilaration; but complicated chronic complaints will, after a time, creep upon him, making life a burden, and ending in premature dissolution; though he may impute his sufferings to other causes, and even die, folded in unsuspicious confidence, in the arms of his murderer." The fact of its possessing some medicinal qualities is a strong reason why it should not be used as a luxury, for the habitual use of it will prevent its producing its desired effects when really needed as a medicine. And, moreover, who ever thought of making a daily and habitual use of calomel, because he has occasionally obtained relief by it in the hour of distressing sickness? But the most of those who use tobacco are always indisposed, at least in their own estimation, and therefore they think they require an habitual use of it, and imagine that they derive very great relief by it from their complicated diseases. To hear them enumerate the ills with which they are afflicted, you would suppose them the greatest valetudinarians in existence; and no doubt many of them are, and have become so, too, by the use of that very plant which they think is such a sovereign remedy for all their diseases. Hence, one is afflicted with a cold and watery stomach, and tobacco relieves him by promoting expectoration. Another is troubled with indigestion, and tobacco relieves him from this difficulty, although it is known to deprive the stomach of the saliva and juices which are absolutely necessary to carry on the process of digestion, and although the use of this article is known to be one of the principal causes of the dyspepsia; and what is dyspepsia but a high state of indigestion?

Another is troubled with the rising of his food, after a hearty meal: resulting, no doubt, from overloading the stomach by intemperate eating; and he finds immediate relief by his tobacco, and thus continues to indulge himself to excess, because he has a speedy remedy at hand. Like a class of ancient gormandizers, who were in the habit of taking an emetic immediately before and during their meals, that they might have the pleasure of eating a treble portion.

Another is afflicted with a distressing complaint in the head and brain, and a little good Scotch snuff always affords immediate relief; as though filling up the pores and cavities of the head, and clogging the brain with snuff, would produce a healthy action of the organs and nerves.

Others, again, use it to preserve their teeth, though Dr. Rush informs us that he knew a man, in Philadelphia, who lost all his teeth by smoking.

Others, again, profess to use it to excite the mind to more vigorous effort in their intellectual researches. But it will be found, upon observation, that great smokers are seldom great students, or very enterprising in any department of society. "I suspect," says Dr. Rush, "that tobacco is often used rather to supply the want of ideas than to collect or excite them. The Indians afford a striking proof of this: hence they spend whole days and even weeks in smoking, in order to relieve themselves from the anguish which attends the inactivity and vacuum of their minds."

Many of the diseases supposed to be relieved by tobacco were undoubtedly originally superinduced by its use; the system has thus become deranged, and lost its natural tone; hence the supposed necessity for the continuance of the original exciting cause; and no doubt but it does afford some relief; and no doubt, too, but some inconvenience is experienced at first, by its suspension; until the system can again acquire its natural habit. The effects here are the same as in the habitual use of ardent spirits: the drunkard supposes it to be absolutely necessary for him to continue his dram to prevent the fatal effects of those diseases induced by its use. But experience has proved that total abstinence may be immediately resorted to, without any serious consequences resulting: but, on the contrary, the happiest results will follow, viz., the removal of those very symptoms for which the article is taken.

"The common opinion," says Professor Hitchcock, "that tobacco, in some of its forms, is serviceable for headaches, weak eyes, purifying the breath, cold and watery stomachs, &c., is mere delusion." Snuff, by some had recourse to for the relief of headache or disordered eyes, when long continued, brings on those very evils it was intended to remove. "The chewing of tobacco," says one of the ablest physicians in Massachusetts, "is not necessary nor useful in any case that I know of." The practice of smoking is alike deleterious. "Our advice is," therefore, in the language of the Journal of Health, "to desist immediately and entirely from the use of tobacco in every form, and in any quantity, however small."—"A reform of this, as of all evil habits, whether of smoking, chewing, drinking, or other vicious indulgences, to be efficacious, must be entire and complete, from the very moment that the person is convinced, either by his fears or his reason, of its pernicious tendency."

I shall defer other medical testimony against the use of tobacco until I come to consider its effects in a subsequent part of the tract, and hasten now to notice.

II. THE VARIOUS MODES OF USING IT; VIZ., SNUFFING, SMOKING, AND CHEWING.

1. Snuffing.—The general reason assigned for using tobacco in this mode is some disease in the head—headache, catarrh, &c., and perhaps it is sometimes beneficial in extreme cases of this kind; but, in order to be so, it must be very seldom used, otherwise it loses its effects. And for these diseases there are substitutes which will produce all the good effects of snuff, without any of its dangerous tendency. "As to snuff," says Mr. De Bomare, "all its good effects may be much better procured by power of betony, sage, or marjoram. If it be taken as a sternutative, or medicine to cause sneezing, it should be taken very seldom, or it will lose its effect; and if it should not, who, for the sake of redeeming his head from some occasional trifling inconvenience, would consent to have his body thrown into continual convulsions?" The evils resulting from the habitual use of snuff are great and numerous. "The least evil which you can expect it to produce, is to dry up the brain, emaciate the body, enfeeble the memory, and destroy the delicate sense of smelling." "Common snuff, in habitual snuff-takers, has been found to penetrate the sinuses communicating with the nose, and into the antrum hughmorianum, (certain cavities in the head,) where it has formed horrid abscesses: it is often carried down into the stomach, and, by the use of it, the skin is tinged of a pale brown color. The most delicate females have their complexion entirely ruined by it. Many cases have been observed where the appetite has been almost destroyed; and a consumption brought on by the immediate use of this powder." "The ordinary and constant use of snuff," says Mr. Salmon, "induces apoplexies. For drawing away the thin matter, the thick is left by itself, where, increasing, it becomes too thick to pass through the os ethmoides, or sinelike bone: the cavity is at length filled there, with, where, obstructing the animal spirits, near their centre, an apoplexy is infallibly induced; and I am confident that more people have died of this disease, in one year, since the use of snuff, than had died of the same disease for a hundred years before; and most, if not all, of those whom I have observed to die of late of that disease were such as were extreme and constant snuff-takers." The injury of the voice is a certain consequence resulting from the habitual use of this article; which ought to be a weighty consideration to all, but especially to public speakers. "But," you say, "I am so long accustomed to it, I cannot leave it off." Alas! alas! your case is truly deplorable, you are shorn of your strength, and power is now lacking to bring the expostulations of conscience to good effect. However, try: see what God will do for you."

"I knew a woman," says Dr. Clarke, "in the east of this kingdom, who had taken snuff, and immoderately too, for fifty years. She agreed with another lady, who was also addicted to it, to leave it off. In a short time she got uneasy, by and by miserable, and lastly ran quite distracted. She was then obliged to resume it. Not long after, hearing the preaching of the Methodists, she was deeply convinced of sin, and converted to God. From the band rules of that society she learned that she could not have a band ticket until she left it off. To give it up she was verily afraid, remembering what she had suffered before. However she thought, Then I did it in my own strength; now I will do it in the strength of God. She then threw away her snuff box, and abstained from it after, and never suffered the slightest inconvenience in consequence," and I would say to all such, "Go thou and do likewise."

2. Smoking.—This is the second mode of using tobacco, and is probably much more extensive and injurious than the former, though most smokers are ever "ready to give a reason" why they use it; viz., some real or imaginary disease with which they are afflicted. But the uniform testimony of the most experienced and skillful physicians is, that it is seldom useful, but, on the contrary, the procuring cause of many of the most distressing complaints. "The great virtues of a pipe, taken in the morning fasting, are," says Mr. Jones, "extolled by many, because, say they, it pumps up a quantity of cold phlegm from the stomach. Not to insist that nothing can be taken out of the stomach but by vomiting; let it be observed that the substance which is forcibly hawked up by many who have acquired this most disgusting habit, is the mucus secreted by the tonsils to lubricate and defend the oesophagus; together with the saliva which is secreted by the glands. "And this mucus and saliva are not less requisite in their respective places than the blood itself; as they are not only absolutely necessary for the defence of the parts already mentioned, but also for the important purpose of digestion, which, if not properly promoted, and carried on, the body cannot long continue in a healthy state. Every medical man knows well that the saliva which is so copiously drained off by the infamous quid and the scandalous pipe is the first and greatest agent which nature employs in digesting the food."—"I heartily wish the corporation of surgeons and other anatomists would procure as many bodies of habitual smokers and snuff takers as possible, that, being dissected, we might know how far that ever to be dreaded evil prevails which J. Borrh says happened to the brain of an immoderate smoker, which, on dissection, was found dried and shrivelled up by his excessive use of the pipe." "I once lost a young man of seventeen years of age," says Dr. Rush, "of a pulmonary consumption, whose disorder was brought on by the intemperate use of cigars." Dr. Tissot ascribes sudden death, in one instance, to the excessive use of it in smoking. "Who can see groups of boys of six or eight years old in our streets smoking cigars, without anticipating such a depreciation of our posterity in health and character as can scarcely be contemplated, at this distance of time, without pain and horror?"

3. Chewing.—This is the third mode of using this plant. "In this manner," says Dr. M'Allister, "all its deadly powers are speedily manifested in the commencement of the practice, as has been already shown. In this mode, too, its nauseous taste and stimulant property excite and keep up a profuse discharge from the mucous follicles and salivary glands. The great increase of these just before and after eating, and the large quantities swallowed about that time, are unequivocal evidence of their importance to the digestive economy. Thus what must be the state of that man's digestion who, until seated at table, keeps his quid in his mouth, and immediately returns it thither after rising from his meal? And when we reflect that large quantities of saliva, strongly impregnated with this poison, and even particles of the substance itself, are frequently swallowed, what, again I ask, is the probable condition of such a person's digestive organs?"

There is one other mode of using tobacco, which I had like to have passed unnoticed; viz., eating it, a mode more disgusting and more fatal in its consequences than either of the above. And the number of tobacco eaters is not small either; especially among the female sex, who become accustomed to it, in the first place, by using it as a tooth powder. They thus acquire a relish for it, and soon become habitual eaters of it; which, when thus taken, must ultimately result in all the fatal effects which this poisonous plant is capable of producing; therefore something else should be substituted in the place of snuff as a tooth powder. Dr. Reese observes that he knows two deaths to have occurred from this cause, and Dr. Rush observes, "One of the greatest sots I ever knew, acquired a love of ardent spirits by swallowing cuds of tobacco, which he did to escape detection in the use of it, for he had contracted the habit of chewing, contrary to the advice and commands of his father. He died of a dropsy, under my care in the year 1780."

(To be Continued)