CAUTIONS 
Againft the immoderate Use of 
SNUFF. 
Founded on the known Qualities of the 
TOBACCO PLANT; 
And the Effefts it muft produce when this 
Way taken into the Body: 
AN D 
Enforced by Inftances of Perfons who have 
perifhed miferably of Difeafes, occasioned, 
or rendered incurable by its Ufe. 
Dr. J. HILL. 
the second edition. 
L -O N D o N : 
Printed for R. Baldwin in Pater-nofter Row* 
and J. Jackson in St. James’s-ftteet. 
MDCCLXI. 
[Price One Shilling*] CAUTIONS 
AGAINST 
S N U F F. 
THE 
INTRODUCTION. 
OME Angular ihftances of 
roifchief, which I have feeri 
from the immoderate ufe of 
SfO&lk)SC$CjM? Snuff, have occasioned thefc 
cautions. I hope they may be ufeful to 
fuch, as from an excels in the fame 
B pradlicc pra&ice, may be liable to like difor- 
ders. 
As nothing is fo (Irong as fad, I fhall 
relate, in an exad manner, what acci- 
dents, from this caufe, have come within 
my knowledge: and, as my (ingle voice 
is too weak; and the obfervations I have 
had opportunities of making, are too li- 
mited for the importance and extent of 
the fubjed, I (hall encreafe them by the 
accounts of great and good authors: and 
fbrengthen them by their authority. 
The method in which this fubjed may- 
be rendered mod obvious, and mod: af- 
feding to the Reader, I apprehend will 
be this. 
I. 
To (hew what are the real qualities 
of the herb Tobacco, from which Snuff is 
made. 
11. 
To examine what effeds mud: na- 
turally be expeded from an herb of thofe 
qualities taken up the noftrils. To illuftrate reafon by experience; 
and (hew what effedts have followed it in 
paany instances. 
111. 
CHAP. L 
Of the nature and qualities of the 
Herb. 
TOBACCO is a narcotic withape** 
culiar acrimony. 
*Tis fuch a body as art might prepare 
by mixing Opium with Euphorbium. 
The herb itfelf is fo nearly poifonous, 
that no phyfician gives it inwardly. 
When by accident it has been fwal- 
lowed ; or from external life on a wound-* 
ed part*, has made its way into the body, 
the firft effort is that of extreme irrita- 
tion ; and after this come on the word: 
effe<fls of Opium, outrageous vomitings 
See page 6. 
B 2 pud and purgings ; and afterwards deep deep, 
but not without convullions. 
We know how carefully we ought to 
guard again# Opium, which has not this 
violent acrimony; how mud} more ought 
we then to fear a narcotic with fuch an 
addition. 
A Recruit, who had been picked up 
from jhe tail of a country waggon, and 
was juft taught to drink drams, and 
chew Tobacco, lay intoxicated, in fuch a 
poftnre, that his faliva, tindtured flrong- 
ly with the herb, ran fpr a long time 
down his throat. He was in the Savoy, 
one of general Anflruthefs men, of 
whom I had the care. 
He foon vomited, and fell into a purgf 
ing; difcharging both ways enormoudy? 
and not without a tindture of blood. Af- 
ter an hour he fell into a deep deep, hut 
was waked by ftrong convullions: be 
laughed immoderately 5 and the next mo- ment cry’d : his fight was aimoft loft $ 
and he knew nothing of where he was j 
hut feemed as one mad. 
After fome time raving, he grew com- 
pofed. and flept again : but he breathed 
difficultlyhis lips fwelled, his face 
grew red and bloated, and his jaw hung 
down; he was covered with cold fweats; 
and often feemed dead, till a frefh drain- 
ing to vomit brought him to himfelf 
again. 
Nature was ftrong in him, and he re- 
covered : but he complained a long time 
after of a fenfation like that of fire in his 
ftomach, and had a hiccough, which no- 
thing could appeafe. 
A woman at Denham, a fervant of fir 
Roger Hill, was advifed to thruft a piece 
of Pigtail Tobacco up her noftril for a 
giddinefs of the head. She went to bed 
with it, and lay with her head off the 
pillow : foon after midnight, fhe was 
waked with intolerable ficknefs: fhe vo- mited often and violently; and fell into 
dreadful hyfteric complaints. She lay as 
dead a long time; and, when a little re- 
covered from this, became flupid and co- 
rn atofe ; her pulfe was unequal, and her 
mind afterwards difturbed. She recovered 
by means of a profufe fweat, of a mod: of- 
fend ve fmell, like that of a corpfe i but 
fhe had a trembling of her limbs a long 
time afterwards. 
A perfon had a contufed wound on the 
thigh, attended with alarming fymptoms : 
the furgeon, who had a high opinion of 
the virtues of Tobacco externally, added a 
powder of the leaves of that herb to the 
dreflings. The patient was in a very little 
time feized with outrageous vomitings, 
which were very difficultly allayed. The 
furgeon, not apprehending the Tobacco 
to have been the caufe, repeated it in the 
next dreflings; and the vomitings return- 
ed with the fame alarming violence*. 
* Ephem. Germ. 12. Obf. 108. A perfon of one of the religious orders, 
ventured to ufe Tobacco for relieving 
people in the gout. He did not regularly 
give it, but rolled up a piece in muilin ; 
and directed the patient to put it in his 
mouth, and hold his head down. This 
drew a great quantity of rheum froro. 
the mouth, and was not without its ef- 
fect againft the diforder: but it brought 
on vertigoes*. 
Thefe inftances may fhew, that To- 
bacco is a powerful, but dangerous plant; 
and that thofe fovereigns had reafon who 
prohibited the ufe of it in their domi- 
nions -f, . 
*Tis not eafy to fay what drug we ought 
more reafonably to fear than an acrimo- 
nious narcotic* It fhould feem by the 
fymptoms, that the worft of our vege- 
table poifons are nearly of that cha- 
racter. 
* Terr. Not. in Hernandez, 
f The Turks and Ruffians. 
c H A P, CHAP. 11. 
Of the feffedh which are naturally 
to be expected from taking the 
powder of fuch a plant up the 
noftrils* 
TH E dry’d leaves of Tobacco/ 
ground, rafped, beaten, or other- 
wife reduced to powder, make what' we 
call Snuff, 
To judge of the effects this powder 
may produce on being taken into the no- 
ftrils, we fhould acquaint ourfelves with 
the flrudlure of all the parts which it may 
reach. This ought to have been a confi- 
deration prior to the firft ufe of the herb 
in that manner ; and we may venture to 
affirm, that, if it bad been fo confider- 
cd, this method of taking it would never 
have been introduced. There is no part of the human frame 
tnore delicately fenlible than the nof rils; 
they are covered, in a manner, with 
branches of nerves; and thefe fo thinly 
guarded from the air, that the brain it- 
felf may be faid to lie almof naked there. 
This conf ru<flion was necefary for the 
delicate fenfe of fuelling ; and the pro- 
vifon made for it is, like all other parti- 
culars of the human compofition, won- 
derful. 
The nerves are eafily irritated, and ea- 
fily defrayed. Nature is always on her 
guard againf the injury, and will ufe ef- 
forts in this cafe, violent, and even con- 
vulfive, to preferve herfelf: but induf- 
trious man may overcome them all. 
Hence, when Snuff is taken, by a perfon 
unaccuf omed to it, the irritation is ex- 
tream j and then follows freezing : this 
is the effort Nature ufes to throw off the 
offending matter ; and it fucceeds. The 
acrimonious powder is received no farther 
than into the open nof ril; it is thence 
C thrown thrown out immediately by the fhock ", 
and a plentiful difcharge of a watery fluid 
following, wafhes away every remain of it. 
In this cafe therefore the Snuff adls by its 
acrimony only : there is not time for it 
to exert thofc other qualities which itpof- 
feffes in lb ffrong a degree. 
This is the effedt on a perfon wholly 
unufed to Snuff. But cuffom gets the bet- 
ter of Nature’s abhorrence to that pow- 
der. To work this effedlin a due degree, 
the nerves of the noffrils muff be in a per- 
fedl ftate; but acrimonious fubftances 
which firft irritate thofe tender organs, 
afterwards deffroy them : for this realbn, 
perfons accuffomed to Snuff', no longer 
fneeze on taking it. The powder, which 
was at firft thrown off' fo violently, is 
permitted to lodge, and to exert all its 
force. The Nerves are thus corroded 
and deftroyed, and the fenfe of fuelling 
is impaired; and, in the end, totally 
loft. But this is not all; Nature, who an- 
fwers many purpofes, by one and the 
fame way, intended this delicate fenfa- 
tion of the nolfrils, not only for the agree- 
able and ufeful fenfe of fmelling, but for 
the defence alfo and guard of that paffage 
to the throat. 
The noflrils open into the mouth, and 
are a fecond paffage to the throat. The 
mouth we can fbut at pleafure; but thefe 
other inlets are always open; and without 
fome peculiar guard, many fubftances 
improper to be fwallowed, would get 
this way down by accident; befide this 
powder which we force in by art. 
To guard againfl all this, Nature 
has given firft a kind of external de- 
fence,in thofe fhort hairs which grow near 
the openings of the noftrils ; and to men 
a much greater, which cuftom with us 
fakes away, that is the part of our beard 
C ? which which grows on the upper lip. Often* 
five fubftances might be, in a great mea- 
fure, kept out by thefe : but, if they find 
admittance, the next provifion againft our 
fuffering by them, is that delicate fenfibi- 
lity in the nervous lining of the noftrils, 
which, on the firft touch of any thing 
acrid, urges freezing to throw it off. 
Thefe are provifions of Nature againft 
the accidental fwallowing of acrimo- 
nious things; but we induftrioufly fub- 
vert the very purpofes of thefe in our 
method of taking Snuff. A few fcatter- 
ed hairs are no defence againft what we 
apply with a broad thumb to the very 
opening of the noftril, and draw up with 
the force of all our breath: we thus com- 
pel the noftrils to receive this acrid and 
alrnoft poifonous powder of Tobacco ; 
and, by repeating the application, we de- 
ft roy thofe nerves which would excite 
fneezing to difcharge it. 
Snuff is thus received and retained in 
the cavity of the noftrils: it tindfures £he fluid which the glands of the nofe nar 
turally difcharge ; and fome of this will 
make its unoppofed way, with the faliva 
or proper liquor of the mouth, drawn in-» 
to the ftomach. 
Let us purfue its courfe ; and, knowing 
its nature, from that, and from the ftruc- 
ture of the parts, judge of the effeds and 
confequence. 
The faliva aflifts the juice of the ftq- 
mach in the digeftion of our food ; it can- 
not be encreafed without hurt; nor al- 
tered without mifchief. The acrimony 
of Snuft encreafes the quantity of this, 
by ftimulating the glands which difcharge 
it; and alters its very nature by the 
tin&ure which it gives, and which mull 
be, from the quality of the Plant, narco- 
tic and acrimonious. 
Narcotics, we know, weaken the fto- 
mach, deftroy the appetite, and prevent 
digeftion; but this is a narcotic, which, 
by the mixture of a peculiar acrimony, dx- 
Ifurbs the natural operation of the {to- 
rn ach, even while by that other quality, 
it deflroys its force. 
A habit of taking Snuff, muff there- 
fore bring on dlforders of the flomach ; 
and all the mifehiefs that attend a bad 
digeflion. But there is yet to be con- 
fidered the cefophagus, the paffage from 
the mouth to the flomach, thro’ which 
it muft go down : this is of a con- 
flrudlion as delicate and as fenfible of 
injuries even as as the membrane of the 
noflrils; and there is this farther dreadful 
confederation, that its injuries are beyond 
the reach of art: it is too far removed 
from the furface of the body to be capable 
of relief from the furgeon's hand ; and 
therefore hurts of it are often mortal. 
The oefophagus has, like the flomach, 
a great number of nerves, very fenfible of 
irritation; but, befide thefe, its inner 
coat is villous, and by the veffels opening there, it receives a great deal from the 
tindlure of the Snuff even before that tinc- 
ture reaches the flomach. 
This is the real fource of that 
tion, which perfons accuflomed to Snuff, 
receive from it; but ’tis little underflood, 
and beff it fhould remain fo. It does not* 
caufe them to fneeze, nor are they dis- 
appointed ; for they do not expedl, or 
defire it fhould. Here is indeed a fhoft 
and immediate caufe for its effective qua- 
lities : but there is alfo the mofl immi- 
nent danger. This delicate and downy 
fubflance of the lining of the csfophagus, 
while it'receives the virtues of the faliva, 
flrongly impregnated with Snuff, may 
alfo detain a portion of it on fome unlucky 
occafion; and, from its irritation, when 
lodged upon a part fo tender, and fo large- 
ly fupplied with blood veifels, there will 
naturally arife an inflammation which no 
hand can reach, with an extenfion of 
the injured part, whofe progrefs nothing 
can flop, and whofe end mufl be fatal. We fee therefore, in the eye of reafoff* 
what are to be expedled, as the eftedts or 
forcing an acrimonious and narcotic pow- 
der up the noffrils for a length of time : 
but there are fadtsffronger than all reafon- 
ing, which will enforce the truth. 
CII A P. 111. 
Of diiorders which have been 
brought on by the immoderate 
life of Snuff. 
* I ' H E fir ft effedl of Snuff will be ori 
A the nerves of the noffrils, where it 
is firff received ; and theie, according to 
their own tender nature, and the acrimo- 
ny of the powder applied to them, will 
be deftroyed. This effedt is certain from a 
continued ufe of Snuff ; but. it will come 
on fooner in fome, and later in othersy 
according to the peculiar ffriidture of the 
part, which is in no two human bodies 
exadtly alike. With the deftrudtion of thefe nerves, 
tvill perifh the fenfe of fmelling, which 
depends on them; and* in fome degree 
alfo, that peculiar fenfation which is of 
a middle nature, as it were, between fmell 
and tafte, by which we diftinguifti the 
more delicate flavour of what we eat. 
Thefe fenfes may be loft without any 
immediate danger to life but it is giv- 
ing up what muft be allowed at leafl: ve- 
ry pleafing, to a very unworthy caufe. 
A country gentleman, three or four 
years fince, received a prefent of fome very 
good Snuff. He had taken common Snuff 
before, but not immoderately; the excel- 
lence of this occafioned his increafing the 
quantity. After about one year, I re- 
member that, walking with him in the 
garden of J. Ware, Efq; at Weflburn 
Green, a young lady in fport, took off a 
flower of the Stinking St. John’s-wort, 
and defired him to obferve how fweet it 
D was; was r fhe loft the jeft, for he had loft his 
fuelling: he put it to his nofe, and an* 
fwered, That it was fweet, very fweet in- 
deed. 
The fenfe of what we call the flavour 
of fruits, and of the more delicate foods, 
depends, like abfolute tafte, upon the 
nerves which are diftributed over the fur- 
face of the tongue ; and this laft is always 
impaired, and the former utterly loft by 
the immoderate ufe of Snuff. 
This fenfe of the flavours of bodies is a 
more delicate kind of tafte, and will be 
therefore firft injured; especially as the 
mixture of fmelling, which plainly is 
concern’d, fhews the nerves of the no- 
finis to have fome ftiare in it. 
In order to our enjoying this fenfc in 
perfection, the nerves muft be kept in an 
uninjured ftate; and the mouth muft have 
3 due, and only a due degree of moifture. 
Infants have not that delicate fenfe of it 
which which men have, becaufe their mouths 
are too moift; and the extremities of the 
nerves do not lie fufliciently expofed ; in 
very old perfons this fenfation is lefs deli- 
cate, becaufe the nerves are wafted. To- 
bacco will do much more than the injuries 
of both: it always tindhires the fluid of the 
mouth, when taken in this manner; and 
fomctimes by accident, gets down in fub- 
ftance. In this laft cafe it adts violently 
on thofe tender and almoft naked nerves, 
from which we enjoy the flavour of 
the nicer foods, and by its acrimony 
would prefently deftroy them; but a great 
deal of water is drawn immediately into 
the mouth, by the effedl of the fame acri- 
mony on the glands, and the naufeoufnefs 
of its tafte urges us to make violent efforts 
to fpit it cut- 
Snuff therefore, which falls intire into 
the mouth, is foon \vafhed off from the 
furface of the tongue, and difcharged -3 
hut not without having flrft injured very 
3D 2 feverel^ feverely the neryes of that part on which 
it immediately fell. 
On the other hand, the faliva, conti- 
nually tindtured by the Snuff, and thus 
fpread oyer the tongue, is fuffered with 
lefs violence to Nature, and becomes 
lodged there at all times. This works 
flowly, but very certainly, the fame effect 
which the Snuff in fubftance would have 
done if it could have lain there : that is, 
it deflroys entirely the exterior branches 
of the nerves of the tongue by its acri- 
mony : as a drop of oil of cloves, or of 
Tobacco, for they adt alike in this re- 
fpedl, will deflroy the nerve in an aching 
tooth. 
Slow operations are generally fure. At 
firft, when the habit of Snuff is but new, 
the quantity that is taken is not great ; 
and of that the far larger part is thrown 
off by freezing, or is foon after blown 
out of the nofe, in confequence of its ir- 
ritation; yet the liquors of the mouth 
and and nofe are a little tindured from it. 
Its tafte, tho’ in itfelf difguftful, is thus but 
flight, the tongue bears it; if not without 
uneafinefs, yet without any great offence; 
and being once accuftomed, it gradually 
bears a little and a little more: by de- 
grees alfo its own exquiftte fenfation be- 
gins to be pall’d; and in a length of time, 
is fo far loft, that, altho* the tafte of 
fweet and bitter, fait or fower, poignant 
or ftrong, and of all other coarfer diflinc- 
tions may remain, that delicate fenfation, 
which may be called the tafte of flavours, 
is loft altogether. 
In Portugal, where the ufe of Snuff is 
too common, they are fo much aware of 
this, that the perfons employed in making 
up their wines, are never permitted to 
f take any : and it is very lately, that I put 
the matter to a trial before many wit- 
neffes here. Covering the eyes of four 
perfons one after another at the fame 
table, who took a great deal of Snuff; we 
£ound they were not, in the leafl, able to 
diftin^ diftinguifh the creams : not only they 
could not tell the rafberry from the pine- 
apple ; but even not either of thefe from 
the coffee or chocolate : the coldnefs of 
the ice was all they perceived in eith&r. 
They appeared as furprifed as perfons who 
had juft difeovered the lofs of fight in one 
of their eyes, by accidentally fbutting the 
other- 
If this were all, a rcafonahle perfon 
would perhaps think it too much to give 
for the indulgence of Snuff: but affured- 
ly it is not. Thofe who have fo totally 
loft this delicate fenfation of flavours, can- 
not but have impaired their tafte with re- 
gard to other things: we do not perceive 
imperfections which come on flowly, but 
we fhould therefore he more upon our 
guard againft them and it would be 
worth while for a man to confider in 
time, whether he fhall chufe to get into 
a habit of taking Snuff at the certain price 
of two of the five fenfes ? Whether, for 
the fake of that frivolous indulgence, he 
Ml fhall give up for ever the fragrance of all 
flowers, and the flavour and fine tafle of 
fruits, foods, and wines ? 
But, if there fhould be any who think, 
when the account is fairly placed before 
them, that the indulgence of Snuff is 
worth this price, fuch are to be told, that 
thefe are the lead of many facrifices which 
they are to make to that practice: the 
phyfician and the furgeon muft follow in 
the train of its attendants; and, befide 
giving up fome of the moft pleating fenfa- 
tions of which the human frame is ca- 
pable, they muft expeCl its word imper- 
fections and difeafes. 
The acrimony of Snuff is able to pro- 
duce, in thofe parts with which it imme- 
diately or accidentally comes in contad, 
fwellings and excrefcences, which, in 
fome kinds, require the fevered: operations 
of the furgeon to extirpate them and in 
others become fatal, becaufe they lie be- 
yond his reach : and the tindure which 
it it gives to the juices of the mouth and 
throat, may pervert and impair the addons 
of the flomaeh, to fueh a degree as ta 
bring on many difeafes. 
Let it not appear ftrange* that Snuff, 
which can effed all this mifchief, is not 
found in every inftance to doit. In many 
perfons it is the caufe of diforders, which 
they perhaps do not attribute to it, and 
of which their phyfician himfelf may feek 
fome other caufe : but if the number was 
fmall of thofe who fuffer, in comparifort 
of thofe who take Snuff, what wife per- 
fon would yet engage in it ? if only five 
in an hundred ruined their conflitutions 
by it, who fhall be able to fay, when he 
enters on the cuftom, whether he fhall be 
one of the ninety-five who efcape, or of 
the five that perifh ? 
But, in reality, the number of thofe 
who fuffer, is mueh greater than is fup- 
pofed > nay, of thole who fuffer very hea- 
vily. Some are not fenllble of the caufe 
*■ 
OF or nature of thefe diforders; others do not 
attribute them to the Snuff; and many 
continue to languifh in filence, becaufe 
knowing the fource of their complaints, 
they can expeCt neither relief nor pity. 
Accidents will fometimes difclofe things, 
very unexpectedly; and I have reafon to 
fay this with regard to the numbers who 
fuffer mifchiefs from Snuff, in one very 
obvious indance; 
A German once propofed curing po- 
lypudes, or flefhy excrefcences of the 
noftrils without cutting; and having 
fucceeded in two or three inftances, 
as foon as the cures were fpoken of, 
it was afton idling to hear how many 
perfons applied to him with the fame 
complaint. Snuff was the caufe almoft 
univerfally. The man would have enrich- 
ed himfelf; but he was not in effect, maf- 
ter of his own fecret: he performed the 
cure by a root, a large quantity of which 
he had brought over with him 3 but 
when that was exhaufted, he. was at a 
E lofs lofs for a fupply. He did not know the 
name of the plant to which it belonged i 
and, tho’ it appeared like that of fome of 
our crowfoots, none that he could get 
here, anfwered in the effedt 
About eight years fince, there ufed to 
come to a cofFee-houfe near the Exchange 
an elderly gentleman, who could not 
breathe but with his mouth open; and 
from whofe right noftril there hung the 
end of a polypus, or flefhy tumour, the re- 
mainder of which filled the cavity on that 
fide. This prevented his breathing, thro’ 
that noftrilj and he could make very little 
ufe of the other from a like caufe. No- 
thing appeared externally on that fide, 
but he was fenfibie of the fame fwelling 
within. It is not eafy to conceive how 
much this unfortunate perfon fuffered; 
yet to himfelf, the greateft dilirefs of all 
was, that he could no longer take Snuff, 
to which he had been accuflomed. 
Some time after I faw him fo perfectly 
at at his cafe, that he fcarce appeared to be 
the fame perfon : a furgeon of eminence 
had undertaken him after many had de- 
clined it; and by attacking, from within 
his mouth, that which could not be got 
at by the way of the noftrils, he had made 
a perfect cure. The greateft advantage of 
all was that his long difufe of Snuff, with 
the fenfe of the mifchief it had done him, 
prevented his returning to the cuftora. 
A gentleman of fomewhat more than 
the middle time of life, having been 
early accuftomed to Snuff, and being very 
fond of the irritation it caufed, thought 
himfelf unhappy, that, from the conftant 
and long ufe of it, he felt lefs and lefs of 
that effect. He applied for ftronger and 
more acrimonious kinds; and at length 
met with a fort which gave him the high- 
eft fatisfadion. Whether it were from a 
peculiar management of the Tobacco, or 
by means of fome addition of other in- 
gredients, is not known ; but the Snuff 
was fo acrid, and that few befide himfelf 
could bear it. 
E 2 The The pleafure he found in it was but 
fhort-lived; for after a little time, he 
perceived two fwellings of a fleihy fub- 
llance in one of his noftrils, and one in 
the other: they grew fo quick, that, in 
eight or ten days, one of them hung a 
confiderable way out of his nofe, and the 
Others began to be vifible in the opening 
of the other noftril. 
The larger fwelling which occupied the 
right noftrii alone, having grown out be- 
yond the end of the nofe forward, be- 
gan to fpread the other way, and forcing 
itfelf back through the aperture of the 
noftril into the mouth, and encreafmg 
there very faff, reduced him to a mife- 
rable condition : he breathed and fwal- 
lowed with great difficulty, and could 
fcarce fpeak intelligibly. 
The fwellings were of a deep crimfon, 
and verypainfal. His friends terrified him 
ynth the notion of a cancer; bat a furgeon 
of of eminence being fent for, he was foon 
releafed from that fear; tho’ not from the 
real diforder, without great pain. The 
fweliings had arifen only from an inflam- 
mation raifed by the acrimony of the 
Snuff: but there was no poflibility of re- 
folving them, or any other way of freeing 
him from them but by catting them out. 
This was performed very fuccefsfully; 
and the blood that followed the indru- 
ments, prevented any farther inflamma- 
tion. The operation was of immediate 
neceffity to life; for that part of the lar- 
ger polypus, which had extended itfelf 
into the mouth, encreafed fo fad, that 
the patient was in danger of fuffoca- 
tion. 
Another cafe I have feen lately of a po- 
lypus, which had very bad confequences. 
Though I am unwilling to attribute the 
origin of this merely to Snuff, yet lam 
mofl certain that Snuff, which the pa- 
tient continued to take as long as he was 
able for the pain, contributed greatly to 
encreafe cncreafe the complaint, and aggravate all 
the fymptoms. 
This unfortunate gentleman, after a 
long and immoderate ufe of Snuff, per- 
ceived that he breathed with difficulty 
through one of his nodrils: the com- 
plaint gradually encreafed, ’till he per- 
ceived a fwelling within, which was 
hard, but without pain. It grew flow- 
ly, ’till, in the end, it filled up that whole 
noftril, and fwelled the nofe fo as to ob- 
drudt the breathing at the other: he 
found it neceflary then to apply for af- 
fffiance. The fwelling was quite black : 
it adhered by a broad bafe, fo that it 
was impoffible to attempt the getting it 
away, either by the knife or ligature: 
He had hitherto felt no great pain j but* 
■while the people about him were delibe- 
rating what to do, he perceived an un- 
conquerable itching in the lower part of 
it. His principal furgeon, who was a 
very fldlfui one, cautioned him mod: ear- 
neftjy to avoid fcratching it 5 but in vain ; 
he he could not forbear; and the confe- 
quence was a difcharge of a thin fharp 
humour, with dreadful pain, and all the 
frightful fymptoms of an open cancer. 
He tried the famous Hemlock, but with- 
out fuccefs : it produced no good nor ill 
effedt in him, and he was without hope 
when I laft faw him. 
Another infcance I remember to have 
feen of a moll terrible ulcer in the nofe, 
in a perfon who took a vail quantity of 
Snuff: but this, like the former, could 
not, I think, be attributed altogether to 
that cuftom; though it appears very evi- 
dent, that in both, the Snuff violently 
encreafed, and perhaps in both, brought 
on the terrible fymptoms, at lead, before 
their time. 
The perfon was a lady of a fober and 
virtuous life, and there was no caufe to 
fufpedl the accidents which fometimes 
bring on the word: ulcers in that part of 
the face. She had been long accuftomed 
to to Snuff, and took it in very great quan- 
tity. After the ufe of about a quarter 
of a pound of Snuff, which fhe perceived 
to be particularly acrid ; fhe felt a Grange 
forenefs in the upper part of her left nof- 
tril; running, as fhe expreffed it, toward 
the griftle of the nofe; fhe left off that 
particular parcel of Snuff; but continued 
to take the ufual kind as much as ever. 
No fwelling was perceived ; but, after a 
little time came on a difeharge of a very 
offenfive matter; not in great quantity, 
but of an intolerable fmell, and the more 
fo to her, as fhe was naturally a perfon 
of great delicacy. The difeharge en- 
creafed, and it foon became neceffary for 
her to leave off Snuff. A furgeon was 
employed, but to very little purpofe : the 
iymptoms continued : the ulcer cncreafed, 
and, from time to time, pieces of the 
bone came away. 
Death, from another difeafe, put an 
end to that mifery, which all the art of 
phyhek Jdiyfick and forgery feemed very little able 
to relieve. 
From this and a preceding cafe, in 
both which, as well as in fome others 
that have fallen within my knowledge, 
the complaint firfl appeared after taking 
a kind of Snuff different from that to 
which the perfon was accuftomed, tho* 
fold under the fame name, there feems 
reafon to fufpeCt, that ingredients of a 
worfe nature than Tobacco itfelf, are 
fometimes added, by bad perfons, to the 
competition of Snuff. Thofe who can- 
not break themfelves of the habit of 
taking it, ought therefore to be very 
careful to buy it only of the mofl up- 
right and reputable dealers. 
Befide thefe cafes, which Were attend- 
ed with very bad confequences, I remem- 
ber to have heard the late excellent fur- 
geon Mr. Freke fpeak of one which 
came within his knowledge, and to which, 
if I remember right, he was called in for 
F aflift* abidance, though too late : this was of a 
polypus of the left noftril, the root of 
which lay fo deep, that it could not be 
got at, either by the knife or ligature; 
and, which a young operator, who had 
read more than he had feen, had there- 
fore pulled away with his forceps: the 
patient bled to death. No art whatever 
could reach the wounded veffel, or flop 
the bleeding. 
Whether or not polypuffes, which at- 
tend Snuff-takers, are abfolutely caufed 
by that cuflom : or whether the princi- 
ples of the diforder were there before, and 
Snuff only irritated the parts, and haft- 
cued the mifchief, I fhall not pretend to 
determine: but even fuppofing the lat- 
ter only to be the cafe, the damage is 
certainly more than the indulgence is 
worth ; for who is able to fay, that the 
Snuff is not the abfolute caufc, or that he 
has not the feeds of fuch a diforder which 
Snuff will bring into action. With refped to cancers of the nofe, 
they are as dreadful and as fatal as any 
others. It is certain, that Snuff muft be 
of all things in the world, the mod; dan- 
gerous, where there is a difpofition to- 
ward them: for, in fuch cafes what we 
are mod of all to attempt, is to keep the 
parts quiet; and what we are mod to fear 
Is, to irritate them. This is the voice of 
reafon, and the univerfal rule learned from 
experience: and nothing can be con- 
ceived fb irritating in fuch a cafe as 
Snuff. 
Manv women have fchirrous tumours 
•/ 
in their breafts, which never become can- 
cerous ; and, in the fame manner, there 
may be fmall and flight fchirruffes in the 
nodrils, which, in the common courfe of 
things, if left alone, would never come to 
mifehief; but, as any violence offered to 
fuch a bread, will turn the .painlefs fuell- 
ing to a cancer, whofe progrefs nothing 
hut death can dop, fo the irritation of 
F z Snuff Snuff will bring the other fchirrus into 
the fame dreadful ftate. It is evidept 
therefore that no man fhould venture 
upon Snuff, who is not fare that he is not 
fo far liable to a cancer; and no man can 
be fure of that. 
CHAP, IV. 
Of diforders of the throat 
Honed by Snuff. 
TH E noffrils are the firft part witl} 
which Snuff comes in contact; but 
through thefe the paffage is open into the 
hinder part of the mouth, and the throat, 
or sefophagus; and there not only reafon 
declares, but experience alfo fhews it may 
do the moff terrible mifehief. 
I remember, when I was very young* 
to have feen near the town of Peterbo- 
rough, a poor old woman, whofe grand- 
daughter fed her with broth by means of 
a tobacco-pipe; by fucking at one end of which while the other was plunged into 
•the mefs, fhe could with great difficulty, 
and in the fpace of an hour or more* get 
down as much as was fufficient for a 
meal. The account fhe gave of it was, 
that her throat was fwelled up within $ 
and that the beginning of the diforder 
arofe from fwallowing fome Snuff, which 
fhe had drawn over haftily up her nof- 
trils. 
An inftance of a like kind there is re- 
corded in the A<fta Eruditorum : A per- 
fon who took a great deal of Snuff, per- 
ceived, after fome time, a diforder in his 
throat, which occafioned a difficulty of 
fwallowing. No medicines reached the 
pmfe; and when he thruft an inftmment 
jjpwn, it (luck at a certain place, and nei- 
ther art nor violence could get it farther, 
fie became unable to fwallow folid foods, 
and in the end even liquids: by this 
means he gradually wafted, from a cor- 
pulent man to a mere fkeleton, and at 
length died faraifhed, being able to fwal- low nothing. He was opened by the 
furgeons, and in his throat was found a 
O 
polypus juft like -thofe formed in the 
noftrils, which filled up the whole paf- 
fage of the aefophagus, and ran down 
from the place of its origin to the length 
of feveral inches. Thefe are diforders, the 
caufes of which are latent; but perhaps 
they happen oftener than we imagine. 
CHAP, V, 
Of diforders of the ftomach oo 
cafioned by Snuff. 
FROM the aefophagus, the paftage 
is open and immediate into the 
ftomach ; thither therefore the very pow- 
der itfelf may accidentally be conveyed. 
But that is not all; the liquid of the 
mouth, which is fo eftentially necefiary 
to digeftion, goes continually down into 
the ftomach, in thoi'e perfons who take a 
great deal of Snuff, tindhired highly with 
its narcotic and acrimonious qualities. Now, though the Homach having beeri 
accuHomed to this by degrees, and brought 
Hep as it were by Hep, to bear it, even 
when very Hrongly faturated, does not 
throw it off by a violent effort of vomiting, 
as is always the cafe, if a quantity of it 
falls by accident into a ftomach not thus 
habituated to it; yet its effeds will be 
perceived. 
There is nothing that requires fo deli- 
cate a Hate both of the parts and juices 
as digeHion : and, in this cafe, the inner 
coat of the Homach is injured by the 
continual application of that acrimonious 
fubHance; and the juices which fhouid 
operate in digeHion, are terribly altered : 
from mild they are rendered acrid, and 
from diffolvents, they have acquired a 
degree of power of hardening what comes 
in their way. Experiments Hiew, that 
an infufion of Tobacco leaves in water 
has, in fome degree, the quality of that 
infufion of oak bark, which is ufed by tanners to harden animal fubflahcca 
Such an infufion made to a confiderable 
fbrength, is of the colour of the fed water, 
which lies on bogs, and which alfo has, in 
fome degree, the qualities of tan. If flefh 
be put into any of thefe liquors, inflead of 
foftening, and by degrees difiblving, as it 
would do in common water, it grows 
tough and hard. The bodies of perfons 
who have unfortunately perifhed in bogs, 
have, after length of time, been taken 
up, not at all, foft or corrupted, but entire 
and firmer by far than human flefh is in 
its natural condition. All know the pow- 
er of tan upon leather, which is the hard- 
ening of it to a great degree; and an in- 
fufion of Tobacco will have a parallel 
effedh 
Things will produce the natural cite ft s 
of their proper qualities in the human 
body as well as out of it. The liquor of 
the nofe and mouth are watery, and will 
take the fort of tinflure from Tobacco 
that water does in a common infufion ; and the natural and continual heat of the 
body gives it the greateft power that can 
be given an infufion of this kind: it is like 
that in a bed of tanners bark, by which I 
have been fo happy tQ find that tindlures 
may be drawn from vegetable fubllanccs, 
of a degree of firength, not known before* 
Such then is, in fome degree, the juice 
of the mouth, when it goes into the fto- 
mach, tindtured by tobacco. It is not of 
a Hrength indeed to harden animal jub- 
ilances, to a degree like what has been 
mentioned; but according to its llrength, it 
will operate in the fame manner: and, as 
the bufinefs of digeftion is to foften, and 
reduce our food to a kind of pulp, what- 
ever tends* though but in a final! degree, 
to harden what ihould be thus foftened, 
adts diredliy againft digeftion; and will, 
according to its llrength, impede that ope* 
ration. 
The firll effedt 6f indigellion is wind ; 
for this is naturally produced by food 
G which which is not properly managed by the 
powers* of the ftomach; and the very world, 
moft obftinate, and incurable flatulencies- 
arife from Snuff on this principle. More 
than half the difeafes that torment and 
deftroy mankind, have their origin from 
a bad digeftion; therefore indulging 
in the cuftom of Snuff, is laying a volun- 
tary foundation for the worfc diforders ; 
flnce it vitiates and depraves that juices 
without which good digeftion is mpof- 
fible. 
It has been obferved, in commendation 
of Tobacco, that it reduces corpulence * 
and will render the fatted people lean. 
This is, in fome degree true; but it is on 
the principle of fpoling the digeftion, 
that it adls, in this cafe; and therefore to 
mention this effedt, in praife of the herb, 
is highly erroneous: it never reduces 
corpulence, otherwife than a bad ftate of 
health, would reduce it, and leaves al- 
ways worfe complaints in the places I knew a gentleman of a good conlli- 
t-ution, and fond of exercife, but upon 
whom fat grew, notwithftanding all his 
toils; he chewed tobacco, according to 
tile diredlions of a rafh perfon in whom 
he confided; and he certainly grew thin, 
and got rid of an almoft lethargic drowfi- 
nefs, which had hung upon him a confi- 
derable time: but the effedl did not flop 
where he defired, his digeflion was quite 
enfeebled; his fiefh continued to wafte; 
he became fubjedt to terrible bilious vo- 
mitings; and died, in fpite of all afiiftance* 
after having been reduced to a fkeleton. 
In thofe perfons, who have xlronger na- 
tural powers, the effedt of Tobacco is 
either not fo fatal, or at leaf: not fo foon 
but all the effects of indigeflion follow. 
A perfon applied to me in June laft, 
fuppofing he had the gout in his flo- 
mach: what had led him to think this, 
was a continual burning there ; and a 
G 2 ftrange ftrange tendency to vomit frequently: hs 
waked always with a tafte of allies in his 
mouth; and a little after came on an inr 
tolerable heart-burn; after this he grew 
fickifh, and, unlefs his chocolate was 
brought immediately, vomited a thin, 
yellow, and acrid liquor. There feemed 
no reafon to accufe the gout of this; nor 
did there appear any thing In this pa- 
tient’s con dilution, that ihould occafion 
it. He had about four months before got 
into a habit of taking Snuff; and, on 
leaving it off at once, all thefe difagree-? 
able fymptoms vanifhed. 
Lefs things than thefe will make a per- 
fon often uncomfortable himfelf; and 
(what to a delicate mind, is perhaps yet 
more painful,) difagreeable to others. 
A cuftom of yawning gro\ys upon fome 
people to a very unpleafing degree; and 
I have obferved none are fo extrcamly 
fubjedt to this as thofe who take Snuff. 
The pccafion of yawning is irritation, and 
its its feat is in the sefophagus; whofe inner 
coat being very ftnfible, forces this me- 
thod of difcharging the irritating fub- 
ftance; juft as the membranes of the nof- 
trils bring on fneezing from the fame 
caufe. 
If there be a thing more difrefpedlful 
to thofe among whom we live than yawn- 
ing ; it is the coarfe and fhameful habit 
of belching. This, though it mayarife 
from other caufes, and therefore may af- 
fedl thofe who do not take Snuff, yet is 
moft frequent and moft unconquerable in 
Snuff-takers; and often arifes evidently 
from that pradlice. Wind is bred in the fto- 
mach from indigeftion, and is thrown out, 
in this way, by means of irritation : this 
powder of Tobacco is the caufe of both. 
The liquor of the ftomach tindtured with 
it, is incapable of good digeftion, and 
therefore wind is produced; and the con- 
fluence of the next pinch, as foon as the 
falvia, impregnated with it, can get into 
|he flomach, is an irritation which throws 
that that wind np. This is indeed a relief: 
but it is fuch a one as few would chufe. 
A perfpn of delicacy would rather fufFer 
the uneafmefs of the flatulency, than be 
relieved bv thefe means. It is certain, 
that by leaving off the cudom of Snuff, 
which is the caufe, both the difagreeable 
complaint, and the coarfe natural means 
pf relief will be avoided. 
Thefe are the two leffer evils, which 
Snuff brings on in the ffomach, 
the more full power, which it exerts, is 
in continual ficknefs and vomiting- It is 
but very lately, that an indance of this 
came within my knowledge. The pa- 
tient, though a man naturally of a robuft 
and corpulent habit was grown weak and 
emaciated; and was treading with hafty 
ffeps toward his grave. The phydeian, 
who had attended him, was fenfible, that 
Snuff was the caufe but he had not 
power enough to engage him to leave 
it off. When I had the honour to be 
ponfulted, he vomited always in a morn- 
ings mg, and after eating; and, was fallen 
into fuch an habitual coftivenefs, that he 
aim oft forgot Nature had any fuch dis- 
charge as that which he had in a manner 
loft. 
Approaching death had more eloquence 
than his dodor : he left off Snuff entirely • 
and, by taking manna diffolved in water, 
and mixed with oil of almonds, by a 
ipoonful at a time. Nature refumed her 
accuftomed courfe : the vomitings gra- 
dually ceafed, and the ftomach recovered 
fo much ftrength, as to perform its ufual 
operations; if not as well entirely as be- 
fore the injury, at leaft fufficiently for his 
time of life. 
If to thefe immediate effects of Snuff 
upon the ffomach, we add the natural 
eonfequences which attend an impaired 
digelfion, we fhall take into the ac- 
count, in a manner, all chronic difeafes ; 
and lay upon this idle culdom, a charge 
fo great, that it would appear as if we ex- 
ceeded deeded the bounds of reafon : but it if 
well known to pbyficians, that the firft 
feeds of difeafes in general are laid in the: 
ftomach, and are to be attributed to faults 
in the digeftion. To the weakening this 
faculty, it is that Tobacco owes, as we 
have obferved, its power of reducing cor- 
pulency; for it has no immediate effedf 
to fuch purpofe. Life *vears out itfeif; 
and the very actions of the body wafte it 
continually. It is from our daily food 
that daily wafte is fupplied ; but, unlefs 
the ftomach have its proper power, that 
food which fhould in part be aftimilated 
to the nature of our bodies, and fupply 
the wear, paftes oft' without doing us fuch 
fervice. It is for this reafon, people in 
hedtic cafes eat, yet wafte, and, in all 
other inftances, as well as this, it is in 
vain we fwallow that food, which is ca- 
pable of giving nourifhment, unlefs we 
alfo have within ourfelves, that power 
which fhould reduce it to a ft ate of af- 
fording us its natural benefit. That power refides in the firfl inftance 
in the ftomach; and it is there capable 
of being by degrees impair'd, and at length 
utterly deftroyed by Snuff. I have feen 
many wafte away; and fbme perifh abfo- 
lutely, without any caufe, that the mod: 
exad obfervation could difcover except 
Snuff: and there appears great reafon to 
believe that many perifh by it; though 
few are thought to do fo. 
The miferable confequences of indulg- 
ing in this cuftom are plain; and happily 
the remedy is as obvious: there needs no 
medicine to combat the effeds of Snuff, 
nor is any of power to do it; the foie and 
certain cure is to leave off the cuftom : 
this will take effed at any time, and ufu- 
ally even in the word cafes ; at lead fo 
far as I have feen : and, if the parts 
which have been corroded and deftroyed, 
cannot be reftored, yet the ravage will be 
prevented from extending farther; and, 
though fome delicate fenfations may be 
loft, life will remain fecure. 
H One One thing there is yet farther to be ob- 
ferved of Snuff, which would appear more" 
terrible than all, but that happily it is 
not univerfal: this is the effect it takes 
upon the underfhmding. In fome per- 
fons, it evidently dulls the apprehenfion, 
and by a long courfe, brings on a condi- 
tion of abfolute flupidity; a torpor of 
the faculties, and, as it were, a lethargy 
of the mind. 
What is the immediate feat, or fource 
of genius, and imagination, or how the 
foul is connected with the body, we are 
not permitted to know; therefore we 
cannot fay', why it is, that what are called 
the rational powers, are impaired greatly 
in fome, and lefs in others, by the effedt 
of Snuff: or why fome, as is really the 
cafe, lofe them totally, and fink into a 
hate of abfolute idiotifm, from it; while 
others feem to ftand altogether unhurt. 
But thus much we are able to affirm, that 
things which immediately affect the brain, 
are are capable of difturbing the operations 
of the mind; and, in fome cafes, of ab- 
folutely obftruding, or even irrecoverably 
deftroying its faculties. 
Curiofity might lead us to wifh for a 
more pcrfed knowledge of this important 
matter; but it is enough for practical 
ufes, that we know injuries of the brain 
may aired the undemanding. We 
fee how very near the brain is to the 
noftrils; and how very intimate a connec- 
tion there is between them, by that 
amazing expanfion of nervous filaments 
which lines thofe openings. We have feen 
alfo, how eafily the nerves are irritated, 
and how abfolutely they may be deftroy- 
ed by Snuff: perhaps this laft effed, 
which we might naturally moft lament, 
is the happieft event that can be wifhed, 
by one who will continue the pradice of 
taking it. The fooner thefe nerves are 
deftroyed; the fooner the effed of this 
powder upon the brain is intercepted and 
prevented, and it may be, that by the loft 
Hz of of fmell, fuch perfons faye their under- 
landings. 
Our very impeded knowledge of thefe 
things, prevents the tracing up the effed 
from its origin to its lad adion, as we 
can, in fuch as are the immediate ob- 
jeds of our fenfes : but we gather from 
all this, if not the certain, at lead the 
probable caufe, why of a number of per- 
fons, who take Snuff in the lame degree, 
fome are more, fome lefs affeded in their 
rational faculties ; and fome not at all. 
Where the nerves of the nodriis are 
abfolutely dcdroyed, that mod di- 
red courfe to the brain is obdruded, 
and no harm can happen, at lead that 
way, to the underdanding from Snuff; 
where they redd its influence more in the 
nodrils, the eifcd may in proportion, be 
more fen fide upon the brain. Indeed, 
if weconfider how very eafly thofe nerves 
are capable of irritation ; how readily 
they convey the effeds of that irritation, 
to the brain, how very fuiceptible that part is of pungency, and how ill it gene- 
rally endures it; and add to this, the 
extreme acrimony of Snuff, and its vaft 
power to irritate, we jfhall be led to won- 
der, not that the brain, and confequently 
the human reafon are fometimes affected 
by this practice; but that it does net hap- 
pen much oftener. 
Let none objed, that Snuff has an 
effed contrary to what is here confider- 
ed; that it affifis, inftead of impairing 
the imagination; and that thofe who write 
and fpeak, find great afiilfance from its 
immediate efficacy. Though we allow the 
truth of the remark, the argument is no- 
thing in their favour; but may, perhaps, 
be greatly in reality againft them. 
The immediate effect of a pinch of 
Snuff, in quickening the imagination, 
is like that of a giafs of fpirituous li- 
quor in giving chearfulnefs: it is a falfe 
fire in both; it is mod; perceived by thofe 
who are leafl accuflomed to the things ; 
’ and and life wears it off. Thole who arc ha-* 
bituated to Snuff, feel no fuch effed from 
it; and for the reft, all that deferves 
consideration is, that we are lure from 
this. Snuff can aired: the brain. 
Happily the bad effeds of it upon the 
underftanding, are not found univerfally ; 
but thofe more immediate powers, by 
which it corrodes and deftroys the nerves, 
and the diforders it raifes in the human 
frame, by mixing hartfully and mifchiev- 
oully with the faliva, will always take place 
in thofe who continue the cuftom ; tho* 
it may be in a greater degree in fome, and 
lefs violent in others. The certainty of 
the one of thefe mifchiefs, and the moft 
reafonable dread of the other, we may 
hope will inftuence thofe wrho fee 
thenifelves by their own fault, I had al- 
moft faid their own folly, in the way of 
both. 
I do not pretend to reafon them 
out of the caftom; all I have attempted 
k is to lead them to think : it is for this 
purpofe I have laid, before them the pre- 
ceding inifances of diforders that have 
been brought on by it. Thefe would have 
been much more numerous, I doubt not, 
if I had been more converfant among the 
fickj but they will appear fufficiently 
abundant to have fallen under the obfer- 
vation of one who does not pradice phy- 
fic. It has always appeared to me, that 
it ought to be the employment of one 
perfon to fearch the virtues of plants, 
and their general ufe; and of others, to 
apply them in particular cafes. An at- 
tention to the firft of thefe has withdrawn 
me from the pradice of a phyfician 5 and 
thefe inflances have been of fome few 
perfons, who were pleafed to defire my 
advice, from a better opinion of it than I 
am afraid it deferved. A man, with much 
greater talents than my moderate fhare, 
would make but a very indifferent pradio- 
ing, phyfician, without the great affift- 
ance, of experience* 56 
If the inftances here recited, alarm 
and caution thofe, who, by the fame cuf- 
tom, run themfelves into like danger, 
O ' 
the purpofe of this publication is anffver- 
ed: they will fee the importance of con- 
trouliog their inclination in this pointy 
and they may have the comfort to be' 
allured, that thofe mifchiefs, which have 
arifen, or may arife from this cauie, thov 
no medicine can relieve them, will, in 
a great degree, if not intirely, ceafe, on 
leaving off the practice which oecalicned 
them. 
While1 I recommend this, I know it 
is difficult; the force of euftom is next 
to that of nature; but even nature, in 
ibme inftances, may be conquered: and 
when the greater can be done, there is no 
impoflibility in the lefts. 
Every one has Teen the ineffectual at- 
tempt of throwing away a Snuff-box, and 
begging afterwards of every body that has one; this therefore is not the way. An 
abfolute and determined refolution in great 
minds, willanfwer the purpofe: and others 
fhould wean themfelves, as nurfes wean 
their children, by bittering the nipple. 
Something offendve mixed among the 
Snuff is the foie method ; but this is not 
fo eafy as might be thought; the difagree- 
blenefs of the additional fubifance mud 
be fuch as affedts the tafte: for the fenfe 
of fmelling is, in all perfons who have 
long taken Snuff, if not intirely deftroy- 
ed, at leafl fo far impaired, that the 
word fcents will have little effedt. The 
coarfer kind of aloes, with which nurfes 
give infants difguft to the bread, feems 
better calculated for this purpofe than 
any thing; and, as it may be mixed with 
the Snuff in a confiderable quantity, with- 
out any ill effedt, it feems the bed calcu- 
lated for the purpofe. But even with this 
help, the cure mud be more in the mind 
than in the medicine : for the bittering a 
man’s own Snuff, will anfwer little pur- 
pofe, unlefs he will determinately refrain 
from other people’s. 
F I N I S.