L265 1846 IE N ATION Al LIBR ARY OF ME Dl CI NE N A T I O N A l I I B R A R Y O F M E D I C I N E Ut •ff K I BR ARY OF M O ABV BBII 1 * I BRARY OF h IO ABV BB Q 3 .LIBRARY u 6 >>< V BB o abvbbit l IO ABV as LIBRARY OF t JO ABV BBI 1 1 IBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF M ,0 ABVBBI1 TVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W JO ABVBBI1 IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W JO ABVB8U 1 Imi r \M: > RESPONSES f & £/ 4*~ ON THE USE OP TOBACCO. BY THE REV. BENJAlVflN INGERSOL LANE, AUTHOR OF THE "MYSTERIES OF TOBACCO," ETC. NEW-YORK WILEY AND PUTNAM, 161 RROA, 1846. / ' w %(p5f I 1346 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, BY BENJAMIN I. LANE, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New-York. Stereotyped by J. R. Winser 138 Fulton-street. CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction, ....... 3 Dedication, ........ 17 Lecture before the Brooklyn Institute, ... 19 Responses on the Use of Tobacco. I.—Letter from Amatus Robbins, M. D., . 47 II.—Letter from the Hon. Judge A. J. Parker, 61 III.—Letter from the Hon. Mitchell Sandford, . 66 IV.—Letter from the Rev. S. Miller, D.D., . 72 V.—Letter from Charles A. Lee, M.D., . . 78 VI.—Letter from Arad Joy, Esq., ... 82 VII.—Letter from Moses Long, M.D., , . 85 VIII.—Letter from Frederic Morgan, M.D., . 91 IX.—Extract of a Letter from William Hooker, M.D., 95 X.—Letter from E. C. Delavan, Esq., . . 97 XL—Letter from the Hon. H. J. Redfield, 99 XII.—Letter from Moses Taggort, Esq., . 102 XIII.—Letter from Holton Gauson, M.D., . . 104 XIV.—Letter from Rev. L. Mercereau, . 107 XV.—Letter from Joseph Speed, M.D., . . 109 XVI.—Letter from Rev. Robert Allyn, . . 112 XVII.—Letter from Rev. J. Holdicb, D.D., . 114 XVIIL—Letter from Rev. Albert Barnes, . . 117 XIX.—Letter from Rev. Joseph Hurlburt, . 120 XX —Letter from Rev- William Wisner, D.D., . 122 XXL—Letter from Rev. Leonard Woods, D.D., . 126 XXII.—Letter from Thomas W. Blatchford, M.D., 131 XXIII.—Letter from a Member of the American So- ciety of Dental Surgeons, . . 140 XXIV.—Letter from Rev. Henry White, D.D., . 143 XXV.— Letter from Rev. N. S. S. Beman, D.D., . 147 INTRODUCTION. What ! another volume on Tobacco ! Why not? If we have taken a correct view of the subject, its nature and wide-spread evils are such as to justify the publication not only of a second, but of a third and fourth volume. It is neither so pleasant, nor profitable in a pecuniary point of view, that we give it the preference to other topics. But, fully believing that mankind are suffering incalculable ills from its use, conscious of our weakness and of the power of the enemy, we have attempted their rescue. How far we shall have effected it, remains to be seen. We should rejoice to see some abler pen than ours do more ample justice to the subject. The reasons which have urged us forward to the expense and labor we have bestowed on this subject, have arisen from our personal experience of its very sad and mourn- ful effects ; and, growing out of this, a benevolent desire to benefit those who are inflicting upon 1* i INTRODUCTION. themselves the same miseries. The writer used tobacco for more than twenty-five years, some of the time moderately, and some of the time exces- sively ; never, however, did he approach in his use of it, to the quantity which many consume. It would require a small volume of itself to de- scribe the various ills, and disagreeable feelings, which, to him, resulted from the practice. It might be sufficient to say, that, in very much of what he has written, he has spoken from expe- rience. Often, very often, when a subject has opened to him with great clearness, and thrilling interest, has every thought been clouded by the fumes of a regalia. He has been compelled to wait for nature to recruit before he could employ his pen. In speaking extemporaneously, he has often experienced a sudden confusion of thought, and embarrassment, which he has been able to trace to the use of tobacco. This did not occur in the first years of his using it, nor has he expe- rienced it, in any considerable measure, since he has quit the practice. It affected his heart to such a degree, that he was seriously afraid it was the seat of organic disease. • In the precordial region he often felt a sense of sinking, and by Error in pagination: 2 and 3 omitted in numbering INTRODUCTION. •5 applying his hand to his pulse he perceived it in- termit at every sensation of sinking, or giving way. When lying on his left side, the heart would sometimes suddenly dilate, with such power as to make him nearly spring from the bed. For several years before quitting the use, his nights were generally disturbed. His sleep was broken. It seldom came so sweetly as to appear " balmy" in its approach, and as a restorer of weary nature. The disease termed incubus so often came upon him as an armed man, that he dreaded to enter its province. He seldom experienced the plea- sure of an appetite for food, though he often ate heartily, as the want of food caused a sense of illness and debility. For a considerable portion of the time he was afflicted with an inflammation of the throat, and was obliged to have recourse to some remedy for relief. Except in the warmest weather, he experienced a painful sensation of coldness in his feet. For twenty years before he quit the use of tobacco, he abandoned all use of ardent spirits except as a medicine, and at a very early period after the temperance reform began its march of life and health, he enlisted in its ranks. Most generally, however, once and some- 6 INTRODUCTION. times twice a year the state of his health was such as to require some stimulus, which was accord- ingly procured, and produced a favorable medici- nal effect. The system was so reduced bythe nar- cotic, and, in various ways, exhausting influence of tobacco, as to render some stimulus absolutely necessary to restore it. He is acquainted with many other strong temperance men, if a user of tobacco can be called such, who find an imperious necessity for the same remedy. But he must stop the detail of ills. It is sufficient to say that since quitting the use of tobacco he has been nearly free from all the maladies above specified, and many others. He is now satisfied that they were the legitimate product of tobacco. While he was in the habit of using the article in question, he was, like others in the same prac- tice, very unwilling to believe that it injured him ; although occasionally under suffering, he had strong convictions that tobacco was the cause. A severe attack of pulmonary disease, attended with many disagreeable nervous symptoms, and the earnest request of his physician, who had frequently pointed out its deleterious influence, INTRODUCTION. 7 finally brought him to a fixed determination to quit its use forever. He immediately began to recover his health with unprecedented rapidity,— his sleep became sweet—his appetite restored— and the numerous train of nervous diseases with which he had been afflicted disappeared, in pro- portion, as, in point of time, he distanced the space between him, and the vile narcotic, which had so long; held him in bondage. Restored now to health, his physician, in connection with a clerical friend, very urgently solicited him to write on the subject of tobacco. It is to their sugges- tion and solicitation, very much, that the writer is indebted, and the public, for whatever good, if any, may result from his labors. And he would here express his obligation to his very esteemed medi- cal friend for many valuable hints respecting the work, as well as for his letters accompanying this, and the former volume. He would likewise take this opportunity of making his acknowledgments, and returning his thanks to those other gentlemen whose valuable contributions go to make up the practical interest of both volumes. He would make his special acknowledgments to those medi- cal gentlemen, who have frankly and benevo- 8 INTRODUCTION. lently communicated their experience and obser- vation ;—benevolently, because, in this case, their acts are in opposition to their present pecuniary interest, for tobacco is unquestionably a greater source of those ills which give profitable employ- ment to physicians than any thing else. He would also very cordially return his thanks to all those other gentlemen who have answered his circulars and whose letters are not herein published. Very many have returned a brief affirmative or nega- tive to his questions : and some have acknow- ledged that they have no experience and have made no observation on the subject. With a single exception, however, all have returned answer that they sincerely believe that tobacco injures the health, and shortens the life of those who use it. Very few, it will be perceived, are prepared to testify that they have witnessed instances of death evidently resulting from the use of tobacco. This is as we expected. Our object, in the enquiry, was to call attention to the subject, as well as to obtain facts from those who had them. Very few have turned their attention to the subject of tobacco. A great portion of the community use INTRODUCTION. 9 it, and are groaning under the ills that it inflicts. Though ic slays its thousands annually, the fact of its doing so is known to but few. It hurls its dart in secret. If a man drops down dead, no- body suspects that tobacco has done the deed. It is said he died of apoplexy, or a disease of the heart, or the rupture of a blood vessel. And some one of these maladies may have been the proximate cause of his death, but probably tobacco was the cause of the malady. It is a fact well known to the best medical writers, that all these complaints are induced by the use of this article ; and when, from a careful investigation, this sub- ject comes to be well understood, we have little doubt that four-fifths of such deaths will be laid to the charge of tobacco. So in other cases, the man has died of consumption, of colic, or of some other disease of which he would not have died, at that time, had he not been a user of tobacco. Time was when it was thought that but few died by the use of alcoholic drinks. We have heard of many, who, some thirty years ago died of delirium tremens, and it was not thought that ardent spirits had caused their death. The dis- ease was called by another name. Few, even of 10 INTRODUCTION. physicians, were aware of the multiform miseries and diseases occasioned by their use. They were too much under the influence of alcohol themselves to understand it. But now it is un- derstood. Community have been aroused. The subject has been examined, and laid open to the light of day. We hope that the nature and in- fluences of tobacco will one day be as clearly understood. When some sterling men break its bands asunder, and obtain their freedom, and make the necessary efforts and sacrifices to obtain information and gather facts, the work will be done, and community will be startled at their former ignorance, and the dreadful ravages of the foe. We are fully persuaded that all that is necessary to give this subject the importance it deserves, and to convince the most incredulous, is for some individuals of influence to bestir themselves, to investigate the subject, and collect and give forth, to the world some few of the existing facts in relation to it. We know of many in- dividuals who have suffered amazingly from the use of tobacco—some who themselves believe that they have experienced a touch of delirium tremens from its use—who are unwilling to speak INTRODUCTION. 11 out on the subject. This delicacy, we trust, will ultimately be removed, and men will be as wil- ling, from motives of benevolence, to testify in re- lation to the deleterious influence of tobacco, as they are in relation to the deleterious influence of alcohol. When will the friends of temperance awake to this subject"? By many, our positions are treated as groundless, and our zeal as madness. This is so for a reason similar to that which led many to look upon the first temperance reformers as be- side themselves. We sincerely rejoice at every effort to promote the cause of entire abstinence from alcoholic drinks ; but at the present stage of the temperance cause, we look upon the time and money employed to extend it, as nearly thrown away, while tobacco is left to do its work of ruin. We are fully persuaded, and we venture even to predict, let it be remembered, that we shall ad- vance but little beyond the point now gained, until we direct the resources of the temperance army against this insidious, skulking, undermining, and, withal, powerful foe. Of this, any intelligent, ob- serving temperance man may be convinced, who 2 12 INTRODUCTION. will candidly examine the nature and influence of tobacco. We earnestly entreat such to take time for it, and do it. The progress of desolation in the use of to- bacco, is as strongly marked as in the use of alco- hol. Its foot-prints are as plainly visible to those who know them, and they all bear a straightfor- ward direction to the grave. Nature holds out her signs of distress and pleads for relief. Often do we hear the complaints of its victims, and though we are fully aware, they are not, of the cause of their sufferings. They kiss the hand that holds the dagger to their hearts. That these kindly warnings may be understood, we will briefly notice the effects of tobacco in the several stages of its progress from health to sickness, and from life to death. In the first stage of it, after toleration is established, and nature is whipt into subjection, the man feels better than ordinary ; he is exhilarated ; for a time he is happier; it may be for months, and in some instances, even years, he has a greater amount of animal enjoyment. He thinks that tobacco is doing him good. This is one of its illusions—one of its mysteries. In INTRODUCTION. 13 the second stage of progress, the appetite is di- minished and unsteady,—sore mouth is occasion- ally experienced, which is laid to the charge of copperas or some poisonous ingredient mixed with the tobacco. The tobacco itself is not suspected as being the cause. The course of his enjoyment and tranquillity is more frequently interrupted. In the third stage of progress he is dyspeptic; the mind is also affected—the spirits sink—the man is often complaining of the " blues" or the " hy- po." He often passes sleepless nights. He feels timid. His power of self-possession and his resolution is impaired. He begins to com- plain of sore throat; and his breath is as an open sepulchre. In the fourth stage, the citadel of life is entered ;—the man complains of a sense of sink- ing in the precordial region—has palpitation of the heart—thinks he has organic disease, and his physician likewise is often deceived. He is af- flicted with hemorrhoids—more frequently trou- bled with catarrhs, and coughs, and spitting of blood, and colic, and vertigo. He is often trou- bled with the heart-burn, and has constantly to have recourse to some remedy for relief from his dyspeptic symptoms. Life begins to be a burden. 14 INTRODUCTION. In the fifth stage, he begins to think that tobacco, perhaps, is injuring him, and he tries to leave it off, but cannot. All his maladies are increased. He has symptoms of approaching palsy and apo- plexy. The whole nervous system is unstrung, and not unfrequently delirium, tremens nearly re- sembling that occasioned by alcohol, is experi- enced. Life is bereft of nearly all its comforts; and some painful sickness, or, what is a very common termination of the above series of symptoms and diseases, sudden death closes the scene. Such is the path usually trodden by the victims of tobacco. We do not pretend to have marked it out with very great definiteness, nor could we do it, in the brief space, which it would be pio- per to occupy on the subject, in this place. The symptoms of no two men, perhaps, are exactly alike, and the disagreeable feelings and ills occa- sioned by it are exceedingly numerous. But as a miniature view, the above will be found a tole- rably correct delineation of the pathway of the lovers and slaves of tobacco. INTRODUCTION. 15 An important object which we have had in view in this volume, has been to " establish every word" of the positions taken in the " Mysteries of Tobacco," by the mouth of the most respectable and credible witnesses. Having done so, we sub- mit the whole to the examination and judgment of the public ; and we have no doubt, if those whom it especially concerns will be persuaded by what we have presented in these volumes, to abandon the use of tobacco, " the blessings of many ready to perish" will come upon us. We close with re- questing those who have important facts on this subject, relating to their own personal experience, or that of others, to communicate the same to us. Benjamin I. Lane. West Troy, April, 1846. DEDICATION. TO THE HONORABLE THE OFFICERS, TOGETHER WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE, AUGUSTUS GRAHAM, ESQ, PRESIDENT ; ROBERT NICHOLS, ESQ., VICE-PRESIDENT ; CHARLES M. OLCOTT, ESQ., TREA- SURER ; HENRY G. NICHOLS, ESQ., SECRETARY J AND MESSRS. WALTERS, WOODCOCK, CROWELL, PARTRIDGE, CONGDON, MORGAN, SMITH, CLARK, AND ARCULARIUS, DIRECTORS, THIS EECTURE, ON THE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF TOBACCO, DELIVERED IN THEIR PRESENCE, AND BY THEIR REQUEST, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 5, 1856, IN THE HOPE OF MORE ENLARGED USEFULNESS RESULTING FROM ITS PUBLICATION IN THE PRESENT FORM, AND COMMENDED TO THEIR CONTINUED FAVORABLE NOTICE AND REGARD, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED AND INSCRIBED, BY THEIR FRIEND AND FELLOW SERVANT, IN THE GREAT CAUSE OF BENEFICENCE TO MANKIND, AND ESPECIALLY TO THE YOUTH OF OUR BELOVED COUNTRY, BENJAMIN INGERSOL LANE. LECTURE BEFORE THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. It is nc^t a condition on which the laws of human society enforce obedience, that they be known and appreciated. A man may not know the existence of law, he may unwittingly trans- gress, yet if he do so, he must pay the forfeit. So it is with the physiological laws of our nature. The forthcoming penalty is never arrested by the fact that we transgressed in ignorance. The pen- alty is the effect of an appropriate cause. These laws are as indelibly engraven upon our nature as was the moral law upon tables of stone, and the language obey and be blessed, transgress and suffer, is as stern and imperative in the one case, as in the other. Though they are as unchangeable as the laws of the Medes and Persians, they are, however, in no instance arbitrary. It is in the nature of fire to burn, of arsenic to corrode, and of tobacco to stupefy. Nor are the laws by which 20 LECTURE BEFORE THE our life and health are maintained, obscurely re- vealed, or difficult to be understood. Until we become hardened in disobedience, or until nature is vitiated, there is no difficulty in ascertaining when we have taken food sufficient; and nature is offended, and begs, in language plain to be understood, not to have thrust upon her those things which are hurtful. In no instance has nature willingly taken the first draught of alcohol, or the first portion of tobacco. This point may be disputed, because some children have mani- fested a liking for one or the other of these arti- cles at a very early period. But we must go back to the first instance, if we would know the liking of unvitiated nature. Then, as some per- sons commence their existence with hereditary disease, we see not why some may not commence their existence with vitiated appetites. That tobacco is a poison, none who have given a thought to the subject will dispute. It is, or- dinarily, slow in its operation, and many years pass away before its fearful ravages are discover- able. Yet if the trial were to be made, by which article, arsenic or tobacco, life could be extin- BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 21 guished the soonest, we doubt not the result would be in favor of tobacco. Tobacco goes at once to the sensorial power; and repeated doses would palsy it with an electric influence, while arsenic has first to inflame and corrode, and must, if the expression be allowable, travel much further to accomplish the work of death. As tobacco operates particularly and directly upon the nervous system, it may be well to glance at its delicate and widely extended influence. Of this, however, little comparatively, is known. He who shall communicate as perfect a knowledge of the nervous system as we now have of the vascu- lar, will erect an imperishable monument to his fame. No discovery in medical science can be more important. We say not that no star has shed any light upon the subject; but no sun has arisen. On this point we see as with a dim twi- light. We have little if anything like demonstra- tion. What we call the substance of the nerves is the same medullary matter which constitutes the brain and spinal marrow. They are conducted in a thin and highly organized sheath and are spread in very fine branches, variously connected 22 LECTURE BEFORE THE with each other, over the whole animal frame. But of the nervous fluid, which is the life of the system, little is known, either of its nature, or the manner in which it is formed, and transmitted through the system. The medullary substance diffused over the whole body is unquestionably the channel of its conveyance. The various isolated, and, in part, heterogene- ous structures of which the body consists, which are mechanically joined by the cellular tissue, the membranes and ligaments, are united into one har- monious whole, by means of the nerves. The vascular system connects them only so far as it furnishes the supply of blood required for their support; but it is properly the nervous system which imparts to all their life, governs their oper- ations, and establishes their sympathy and mutual action. The nervous fluid may therefore with pro- priety be regarded as the vital principle. Touch this, and you touch a chord which vibrates through the whole system. It is the telegraphic line of communication which nature has established to convey all sorts of knowledge to and from the centre of life and intelligence. BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 23 From the wide diffusion and delicacy of the nerves, and their importance for the sustenance and even the existence of the system, we should learn the danger of wounding or impairing their energy. The health of the body, and the bril- liancy and vigor of the intellect are absolutely dependent upon their unimpaired energy. We may produce death by making war upon any of the various organs of the body, but it can be done in no way so quick as by assailing the nerves directly. The lightning's stroke would not sooner dismiss the spirit to its last reckoning than the oil of tobacco applied directly to the nerves. One drop of concentrated prussic acid applied to the eye will extinguish life in an in- stant, and, were the experiment tried, we have little doubt that the oil of tobacco would be as fatal. The virulence of the poison of tobacco shows itself in just the proportion that it finds its way into the system. Were it not for the de- fences of nature it would in almost all cases prove fatal. It so powerfully excites the salivary glands that nature washes away the poison which would otherwise prove as disastrous as the sting of an asp. Where it is swallowed, the stomach 3 24 LECTURE BEFORE THE and alimentary canal are excited in the same way, to prevent its being absorbed into the system. But lay it moistened upon the pit of the stomach, or any other part of the body where the nerves lie thick and exposed, and its fearful power to bring down the strong man will quickly be evinced even in the confirmed and inveterate user; because, in this case, some small portion is taken into the system, there being no fountain of water, as in the salivary glands, to gush forth and dilute and wash the poison away. A clergyman of my ac- quaintance informed me the other day, that when he was a young man he was troubled with the rheumatism, as was supposed. The application of tobacco was recommended, and accordingly, a moistened leaf of the plant was applied to his arm. Presently he was convulsed, and soon he was thought to be dying. The family physician came, and on enquiry learned what was done. He ordered the tobacco to be removed, and some stimulating tonics to be administered, which after a few days restored him to his wonted health. But had not the tobacco been seasonably removed, he would unquestionably have died under its oper- ation. Is it then, we ask most seriously, is it wise BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 25 or prudent to use as an article of luxury, a sub- stance, which, when brought into unavoidable contact with the nervous system, proves so viru- lent and fearful a poison ? And it ought not to be forgotten, that though nature defends herself against the deadly influence of tobacco, by pour- ing forth streams of saliva from the mouth and mucus from the nose, she is thus wasting her strength, and exhausting her resources, and like a besieged city, when her ammunition is expended, must at last yield to the enemy. That men, at times, appear to use it with im- punity, and many for a long term of years, is a circumstance which has given rise to more decep- tion in relation to tobacco than any other. For the same reasons, persons at some periods are enabled to endure a great amount of labor, and suffer astonishing exposures to heat and cold, and pass with impunity where pestilence, like the scythe of the mower, leaves only here and there a standing blade. It is owing to the vigorous state of the body, the strength of the nervous system in general, and the peculiar healthfulness and flow of the nervous fluid. But with no man 26 LECTURE BEFORE THE is it always thus. Nature is not at all times thus vigorous and strong. The sensibility of the sys- tem and its liability to injury is very unequal. This is obvious to a very superficial observer. " We can pretty clearly perceive," says Cullen, " that the sensibility of persons is different at dif- ferent periods of life ; that it may be occasionally varied by the temperature of heat and cold, by the application of stimulant or narcotic powers, by the state of sleep or watching, and by some other conditions of the body." Again he says: " It seems evident that irritability and sensibility are not always in the same condition in the same person." When these are either too strong, or too feeble, the whole system is affected, and in no condition to endure or resist the evils it may live under, when its movements are vigorous, and unimpaired. Hence it is, that all tobacco con- sumers, who have given the least heed to its in- fluences, have observed, that it affects them very differently at different times, and there are sea- sons when they are obliged greatly to moderate their dose, or lay it aside altogether. Its taste and impression are different. Nature sinks under it, and protests its offensiveness and detriment BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 27 But the man will not give it up. Never did a Roman yield his household gods with half the reluctance. With more than a martyr's devotion he presses it, and puts his whole soul in the apos- trophe : " Plant divine of rarest virtue, Blisters on the tongue would hurt you— 'Twas but in a sort I blam'd thee : None e'er prosper'd who defam'd thee." He tries it again, but nature sickens and faints; and he lays it aside. Again he tastes it, but his strength withers and his frame trembles ; and again he throws it aside, until nature, by a partial abstinence and the help of other means, acquires more strength : and then again even with more than inquisitorial cruelty, she is brought to the rack and dosed and drugged, (or smoked and quidded) until life is on the eve of departing. Cullen says, " On this subject it is to be remark- ed that the power of habit is often unequal ; so that in persons accustomed to the use of tobacco a lesser quantity than what they had been accus- tomed to, will often have stronger effects than had before commonlv appeared. I knew a lady 3* 28 LECTURE BEFORE THE who had been for more than twenty years accus- tomed to take snuff, and that at every time of day : but she came at length to observe that snuffing a good deal before dinner took away her appetite: she finally noticed that a single pinch taken any time before dinner took away, almost entirely, her appetite for that meal." This and numer- ous other cases show very clearly that although tobacco may appear for a long time to be used with impunity, it is constantly, though insensibly, doing its work of ruin. To all constitutions, however strong, unless there is some inflamma- tory, or other counteracting disease in the sys- tem, which it is fitted to hold at bay or subdue, it is like " a continual dropping, which will wear away a stone." Surely a very slight acquaint- ance with the nervous system, its delicacy and susceptibilities, the untold and unspeakable mise- ries which its derangement occasions, will make any one afraid to offend and wound it by the ap- plication of a narcotic, so powerful and destruc- tive as tobacco. The reason that multitudes dare to make a daily use of tobacco, is the same that urges the BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 29 unthinking " horse when he dares rush into the battle"—he knoweth not that it is for his life. They never inquire as to its probable and final results. They are unwilling indeed to hear them, and if told them they will not believe. They will, if you please, believe their appetites rather than their judgment. The general effect of narcotics upon the hu- man system, is to diminish its strength and en- feeble all its motions and powers. As they are commonly remarkable for inducing sleep, they are often termed soporifics; and as their power may be extended to the destruction of the vital principle, they are very properly called poisons. The first effect of many of them is to increase the sensibility of the nerves, and their diminution or sedative influence is as the counter vibration of the pendulum. The system sinks in propor- tion as it was excited. Will any man believe, after appealing to his own understanding, that such an unnatural force can be long exerted with- out weakening and finally prostrating the nervous power"? No elasticity but that of air can endure a constant pressure without injury. As narcotics 30 LECTURE BEFORE THE operate directly upon the nerves, their influence is communicated directly to the sensorium, the head and fountain of vital influence, and conse- quently all the functions depending upon the energy of the brain are impaired by their contin- ued use. The vital functions also, are weaken- ed, and the frequency of their action diminished. It is a fact well known, by the few who have ob- served the operation of tobacco, that it more or less, sooner or later, affects the heart, and causes its pulsations to intermit. No doubt that in many instances it is the primary and only cause of that distressing complaint, the palpitation of the heart. In its first operation, it often increases the force and frequency of its action, and then its sedative character is manifest, in some instances, by caus- ing an alarming intermission of its pulsations. The heart seems to tire in its work, and gives alarming symptoms of ceasing to continue in play a system so clogged and burdened. The influence of narcotics in diminishing the activity of the sensorial power is also strikingly manifest in deranging the natural functions. The activity of the stomach, and other digestive organs, is always weakened by narcotics, in whatever way BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 31 they maybe introduced into the system. Smok- ing or chewing tobacco may assist them for a while, by its cathartic property, but its continued use never fails to impair them. It is a most fruit- ful cause of dyspepsy, that multiform and distress- ing complaint. It is strange that this position should be discredited, because the moderate use of tobacco has in some instances relieved it. If the cardinal position of the homoeopathies be ad- mitted, that what will create disease will cure it, then the evidence that it has given relief in dys- pepsy ought to be sufficient to deter every man in health from its use. But so beguiling is to- bacco, and so inconsistent is the conduct of men in relation to it, that'many of the firmest believers in homoeopathy are in the daily habit of using it. Yet the supposition that it can be done harmless- ly is an entire refutation of their whole system. For if a poison of such multifarious properties, can be used as a luxury, without injury, what be- comes of the philosophy of infinitesimal doses, and of the maxim " similia similibus curantur?" And what better is allopathy than hypocrisy, if a most powerful emetic, narcotic, diuretic and ca- thartic can be daily used without injury, by men 32 LECTURE BEFORE THE in health ? Can any one hope that ordinary, or extraordinary doses of medicine will allay the power of disease, if one of the most powerful articles of the materia medica will not, by a con- stant use, arrest the vigor and health of the sys- tem ? In fact, the daily use of tobacco, without injury to the system, is the annihilation of all phil- osophy in relation to the diseases of the human system, and their cure. Another effect of narcotics in general, in relation to the natural functions, is the diminution and final suspension of all secretions and of every excretion except that of perspiration. This, though not the immediate, is the remote effect of tobacco in a fearful measure. We have known many habitual smokers, who found it difficult to produce a drop of saliva without the aid of tobacco. Hence the thin, withered, and sallow appearance of many users of the weed. What must be the ultimate condition of that constitution which is daily drugged for years by so powerful a narcotic ? It is certain that nearly all the diseases which afflict our race are either excited or aggravated by it. And indeed the slightest acquaintance BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 33 with physiology must convince any man that the most serious consequences must follow. Yet with the knowledge of all this, men will continue the suicidal practice, and for the same reason, that with the grave before him, a man will drench himself with alcohol. If the practice of using tobacco is respectable, and conducive to health and happiness, as some seem willing to maintain, why do not those who are parents encourage their children to use it? They seldom do. Why not ? The fact is, there is a latent impression in the minds of its warmest friends unfavorable to it. They secretly wish they had never acquired the habit, and they are unwilling that their friends, and especially their children, should follow in their steps. No parent of any standing in society, but would be alarmed, should he see his child depositing a quid in his cheek, or making a chimney of his mouth, or titilating his nose with aromatic maccoboy. He would at once give him a lecture in such word and tone, as to make the young tyro fee) that his father's heart was in the shaking of his finder. This evidence* very clearly that thev 34 LECTURE BEFORE THE are not honest in advocating its use. For if the practice neither produces disease, nor shortens life, and is a lawful source of enjoyment, why not invite their children to participate in it? 'Tis proverbial that parents know how to give good gifts unto their children. But should a parent be seen teaching his child the use of to- bacco, he would be regarded as a monster, and consumers of the weed themselves would turn from him with disgust. He would be regarded as endangering the life, health, happiness and morals of his child. An unfavorable impression is at once produced respecting the moral charac- ter of a child who is seen using tobacco. We connect with it an idea of coarseness and wicked daring, and seldom are we mistaken in thus judging. When commenced in very early life it usually stints the growth of both body and mind. In the only instance which we recollect of its being commenced in comparative baby- hood, the person at eighteen had the sallow and withered appearance of a little old man. But tobacco, it is said, is a real source of in- nocent enjoyment. We wish it were possible to BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 35 disabuse the public mind of this strange decep- tion. There was a time when it would have been equally difficult to convince a large portion of community that good brandy or sparkling wine was not a pure source of elysian pleasure. That time we hope is past. The fields of plea- sure to which they convey are found to be on the descending scale, easy indeed, " facilis descensus averni," but many a poor fellow, in attempting the ascent, has exclaimed with anguish, " Hoc opus, hie labor est." If tobacco ministers to happiness, it must be, either from its taste, its inebriety, or the gratification of a habit. Does the taste of it af- ford pleasure ? No one is at first pleased with it, and even consumers of it, when it has been laid aside for a short time, find the taste rather un- pleasant on renewing its use. The taste is un- natural and forced, and he who has not vitiated his nature into a liking for it, realizes no unhap- piness from its absence. Indeed, his taste is more acute, refined, and sensible to the enjoyment of those fruits which God has made for our susten- ance and pleasure. Tobacco blunts the taste and prevents the full enjoyment of them. Is it the intoxicating quality of tobacco that ministers 4 36 LECTURE BEFORE THE to happiness ? That it is intoxicating is asserted by the best medical writers. Its effects are some- what different from those of alcohol. It does not trip a man, nor make " his soul as damned and black" as alcohol, though we fear it is among the causes which have made many a man "kick at heaven." It unfits the mind for the reception of truth, and weakens its power. Like other intox- icating agents, when used in moderation, it soothes the mind and produces a pleasing illusion. It stim- ulates and powerfully excites the nervous system, and when used to excess, produces some of the worst properties of intoxication, and finally issues, in many instances, in delirium tremens. Who wishes for the vacuity, and dreams of the inebri- ate, as a source of enjoyment ? As much hap- pier as is a sober man than an inebriate, so much happier is he who has put his anathema upon to- bacco, than he who cherishes it as a friend. 'Tis useless to deny that tobacco is intoxicating. We can convict any user or abuser of the article of the truth of it out of his own mouth. Supposing a man were in the daily habit of smoking a bit of rattan, would he not be thought an odd genius ? Certainly, and those who first used tobacco were BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 37 thought to be odd geniuses, and not to be tole- rated. Severe laws were enacted, and commu- nity put upon their guard against their blighting influence. Sir Walter Raleigh's servant, the first time he saw his master smoking, thought his head was on fire, and dashed a pot of beer in his face to put it out. Were we not so accustomed to see them we might think smokers a little too odd to belong to our species, and perhaps might come to the conclusion of the old lady, who for the first time saw a man smoking. She hastily withdrew from the house and told her next neigh- bor that the devil had entered her dwelling, for she saw him eating fire, and spitting out smoke. But to return, why would the man with the rat- tan be thought singular in his taste and habits ? Because no pleasure could result from it? But so far as the mere taste is concerned, we are con- fident that the frequent use might render it as pleasant as tobacco. Why then would you pre- fer a good cigar to a piece of rattan ? Because it produces a better feeling ? Ah ! that is it. It produces a better feeling. And what is that feel- ing ? Think of it, analyse it; and say, can you define it by a better term than intoxication ? 38 LECTURE BEFORE THE So far as the enjoyment arises from the gratify- ing a habit, we need only observe that when the habit is broken, there is no appetite to be grati- fied. After quitting the practice for a very few weeks, the disuse gives no uneasiness. To say nothing then of the many discomforts arising from the use of tobacco, we may safely aver that it af- fords no real enjoyment. The man is absolutely and certainly much happier without it than with it. On this point we are certainly very compe- tent to judge. We have used it moderately and immoderately, in all the variety of modes except plugging, and we have now for a considerable time abstained from it, and so much happier and better are we without it, that we fully believe the execrable article has deprived us of one half the happiness of our life. Never was there a greater mistake than that tobacco gives a ready and brilliant flow to the thoughts. Instead of being an intellectual prompt- er, it is an intellectual deceiver. It imparts no vigor or acumen to the intellect, but it abates the one, and blunts the other. The man may fancy himself soaring above the clouds, but they ore BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 39 clouds of smoke, and he has mistaken the fire of his cigar for suns and stars. With his feet on his table, on the same line of the horizon with his head, reclining in his easy arm-chair, he may feel enraptured with his own lofty conceptions. Closing one eye, and giving an upward glance with the other, as he pours forth the beautiful blue smoke, he feels himself gently ascending on its wreaths, to a more elevated region. His thoughts sparkle, and he is astonished at the vast- ness and glory of the field which is opening to him. Seizing his pen, he collects and treasures up some of his richest thoughts, and he sketches a map of the field for some future survey. But ah ! how changed is every thing when the influ- ence of the tobacco is gone. He finds, perhaps, his thoughts were good, but merely common- place :—the fumes of the tobacco having disap- peared, the gold has changed, and his most fine gold become dim. Nothing but a hazy mist is to be seen where was painted the beautiful colors of the rainbow. His sun went down when his pipe went out. We mean not to intimate that a man may not have some noble and brilliant thoughts under the exciting influence of tobacco. But 4* 40 LECTURE BEFORE THE we do say that no man can think so well and clearly for a term of years, with the use of to- bacco, as he can without it: and in many, if not most instances, his composition will'not appear the same when the intoxication of his tobacco has left him, as when under its influence. That many of our fine poets and orators have com- posed amid clouds of smoke, has contributed very essentially to foster this delusion. It is for- gotten, however, that wine or some other alco- holic stimulant generally accompanied their to- bacco, and the beauty and melody of their song received as much inspiration from the one as from the other. It requires both, to take one from this mundane sphere, and place his feet on stars. But of these poets and orators, how often is the exclamation uttered with pain, " Ah ! how fallen!" Man was not made for a balloon. To us it is perfectly obvious that nature, kept strong and vigorous by obedience to the physiological laws of our constitution, will both physically and mentally perform the most noble and glorious exploits. The influence of tobacco seems to have been BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 41 less observed than that of most other articles, by the majority of mankind. A certain result, in a specific case is taken as a general law of its na- ture in all cases. For example, because thin and lean persons have gained flesh on quitting its use, it has been thought necessary to keep the flesh of corpulent persons within the bounds of health and comfort. But in this respect tobacco is like alcohol. It is well known that while al- cohol renders some persons corpulent, and gives them a red face, it renders others lean and pale. In all cases tobacco is a poison, but it operates differently upon different constitutions. When obesity is a disease, tobacco may in some in- stances arrest it, and prevent its increase, while in other instances it may occasion it. This should not be thought strange, for tobacco is a powerful article of medicine, and its effects are according to the constitution to which it is ap- plied : just as quinine may weaken or strengthen, according to the state of the system when it is taken. We have known very fleshy persons leave the use of tobacco without increasing their weight, while their general health and comfort have been greatly improved. This is as might be 42 LECTURE BEFORE THE expected. When tobacco has occasioned obe- sity, its disuse may take off some of the cumbrous flesh, and where it has occasioned leanness, its disuse may cause an increase of flesh. But in all cases the relinquishment, will, in a short period, give strength and vigor to the system; except where the poison has been so long contin- ued as to sap the foundations of health and life. We do not believe, from the closest examination we have been able to make, that in any case to- bacco can be taken, for any considerable length of time, with impunity, unless it is in those cases where the system is diseased, and tobacco is adapted to its case. And here it should be re- membered, that in all other cases, except in the use of alcohol, men never think of continuing the medicine after a cure is effected. Medicine is always injurious to persons in health. That tobacco ever should come in such gene- ral use, is an enigma. It has no redeeming quality. Its aspect, taste, and odor are offensive. We may apply to it the words of the judges res- specting Desdemona's love to Othello, with a slight accommodation : BROOKLYN INSTITUTE. 43 ------------" In spite of nature, Of virtue, cleanness, credit, every thing, To fall in love with what's so black and filthy ? It is a judgment maimed and most imperfect— That will confess—good breeding could so err Against all rules of nature : and must be driveD To find out pract-ces of cunning hell, Why this should be." RESPONSES ON THE USE OF TOBACCO. The succeeding Letters were received in an- swer to the following Circular. West Troy, Nov. 20, 1846. Sir: Being desirous of obtaining additional facts in relation to the effects of Tobacco on the hu- man system when used as a luxury, for publica- tion in a future edition of The Mysteries of Tobacco, I propose to you the following ques- tions : 1. Have you witnessed any cases of disease evidently produced by the habitual use of to- bacco ? 46 RESPONSES ON THE 2. Have you had any personal experience of its effects? 3. Have you witnessed any instances of death resulting from its use ? 4. Do you think that its continued moderate use by a healthy person, shortens life ? A brief answer to the above, written and di- rected to me in the course of a few weeks, will be gratefully accepted and duly considered, by Your humble servant, B. I. Lane. It was our intention, when the above circular was issued, to give the result of our inquiries in an enlarged edition of the " Mysteries of Tobac- co." Various reasons, however, which will be obvious, and we hope satisfactory to the writers, have induced us to issue a separate volume. USE OF TOBACCO. 47 I. LETTER FROM AMATUS ROBBINS, M. D. Troy, March 25, 1846. My dear Sir : In your renewed search for information rela- tive to the effects of tobacco on the human sys- tem, I trust I can appreciate your reasons for desiring a multitude of well authenticated facts. Many reflecting and reasonable men would, no doubt, be convinced and converted by a select and limited number of facts, and of candid opinions, given by men observant of the influ- ence of medicinal agents upon the human body. But there are many others of less reflection, who, when appetite and self-indulgence are opposed, require an array of facts innumerable, and abso- lute demonstration, before they will yield to the truth. Nor should we deem this strange, since even the best scholars are not always philosophi- cal observers of the effects of external agents upon their own minds and bodies. Hence, well defined and numerous cases of the disturbing and 5 48 RESPONSES ON THE injurious effects of the use of tobacco upon the health of men, ought to be obtained, and kept before the public mind, until ignorance shall no longer be the plea of intelligent and honest men. With regard to the value of experimental proofs, I consider those as holding a high rank, in which individuals confess to its use, and relate in their own language, its obvious effects upon their own persons. But when, to banish as it were, all doubts of the correctness of their infer- ences as to the real cause of their sufferings, an entire troop of evil symptoms is removed by the disuse of the noxious article, this I call complete demonstration. Many cases of this sort are ob- tained, and I hope for the benefit of the numer- ous unbelievers, many more may yet be procured. As I consider it the duty of the Medical Faculty who are, or ought to be, the guardians of public health, to impart the knowledge they may. gain from observation and experience, whilst in the service of the public, for the improvement of the health and happiness of their fellow-men, I will add several cases to those I have already com- municated in your first volume of the "Myste- USE OF TOBACCO. 49 ries," as applicable to several of your interroga- tories. A friend of mine living in St. Lawrence coun- ty, states that for a few of the earlier years of his manhood, he chewed tobacco, not, as he thought, immoderately, (about three papers in a week,) until without any other evidence of muscular weakness, he found it impossible for him to stand erect, arid fold his arms across his breast. After exhibiting this abatement of his manliness for a few years, he relinquished the use of tobacco ; and, strange to say, his palpitation at the heart, and fluttering sensations at the pit of the stomach;, with a host of other nervous symptoms, left him, and in a few weeks he could stand up like a man. He has since, for more than ten years, continued to enjoy perfect health, although I regret to add, that for the last five years, he has resumed the use of about half his former quantity of tobacco. About a year ago, a gentleman of this city called on me to prescribe for him while laboring under a great variety of nervous symptoms, which 50 RESPONSES ON THE rendered him very unhappy. I recommended the use of some tonic, with a strict regimen, ad- vising him at the same time, to quit the use of tobacco. This I did, not imputing his symptoms to tobacco alone, but in order that I might obtain the indirect aid which the disuse of a constantly debilitating agent might afford in giving tone to the nervous system. After a few months, his health was apparently restored. Within the last three months, however, he having resumed the use of his tobacco, his nervous weakness has re- turned, and he has pledged himself to total absti- nence. A lady of a delicate nervous temperament, who has suffered many years with disease of the spin- al column, and with symptoms of nervous debi- lity, for which I have often prescribed, has long been in the habit of taking snuff, which she thought did her no harm, as she was so temper- ate and neat in its use, as not to attract the at- tention of others to the habit. She was, at last, dissuaded from its use by her friends, and, in a very few weeks, she gained flesh and strength to USE OF TOBACCO. 51 an uncommon degree, and enjoyed that freedom from nervous symptoms, and that degree of hap- piness from conscious health, to which she had for years been a stranger. To your second interrogatory, whether I have had any personal experience of the effects of to- bacco. I reply, I have never been in bondage to any narcotic. Although my own experience in relation to tobacco is not great, yet it is not, on that account, unimportant, as it led me to regard that drug as my great enemy. When I was a young man, I essayed, like many others, to ac- quire this fashionable accomplishment, but my system was unable to endure the necessary train- ing. After many trials of the pipe and cigar, my stomach continued to revolt, and I at last came to the belief that my constitution was one of those that could never be brought to endure the habitual use of tobacco. A brother of mine, whose temperament was too much like my own, succeeded in acquiring the habit of chewing, but I think greatly to his injury, for he subsequently suffered, for more than ten years, with dyspepsia 5* 52 RESPONSES ON THE in an aggravated form, accompanied with' fre- quent attacks of haemoptysis, until, in an obstin- ate attack of hemorrhage, he died. In the absence of facts to form a direct answer to your third question, I submit a few cases of sudden collapse induced by the medicinal or empirical use of tobacco. These may tend to show the highly poisonous qualities of this drug, and the prevalent ignorance on this subject, which, considering its very common use, is truly sur- prising. An infant child of one of my patrons in this city being affected with flatulence to such a de- gree as to produce distressing colic, a neighbor- ing lady being present advised the administration of an injection consisting merely of warm water, through which tobacco smoke had been blown from the stem of a pipe. Without apprehending any dangerous results from a remedy so appa- rently simple, the mother of the child followed the prescription. In a moment, the child turned pale, the extremities grew cold, and, symptoms USE OF TOBACCO. 53 indicative of convulsions supervened. By the immediate application of restoratives, however, the child was saved from sudden death. The following case was communicated to me by my partner in business, many years ago. In a village a few miles distant from this, was a child suffering under a severe attack of colic. After the usual remedies had been applied in vain, the physician ordered a small quantity of the infusion of tobacco of the strength usually employed, to be thrown up the bowels, as the last resort. In about three minutes, the child sank into a collapsed state, and died. An acquaintance of mine informs me that when a boy, he was made acquainted with the potency of this drug by following the advice of a Jack Tar; which was, to apply a strong infusion of it to his body for the cure of an eruptive dis- ease. The application was followed, in a few hours, by so great prostration, as almost to de- 54 RESPONSES ON THE stroy life, and was succeeded by long continued lameness and debility. To the above cases, I will add one, which, I think, is from the works of Doctor Good. A mother having a child affected with the scald- head, was advised by a neighboring lady to apply an ointment made of Scotch snuff rubbed up with lard. She followed the advice, and, in a few hours, the child was seized with convulsions, and died. As to your fourth interrogatory, whether a moderate use of tobacco shortens life, I think the answer may be safely left to the judicious reader, whenever he is made acquainted with a sufficient number and variety of facts from which to draw a conclusion. And now, my dear Sir, in relation to the work in which you are engaged, I am happy to offer you a word of encouragement. A second edition of the first volume of your " Mysteries," as I understand, having been called for, I hope you USE OF TOBACCO. 55 will not despondingly say, "I have labored in vain." For, although not one in a hundred readers is yet reached by your efforts, the im- mense field of labor may call forth many helpers, when they see that your positions are demonstra- ble, that appalling and undeniable facts are nu- merous, and only* require the time and toil to collect them. Moreover, the subjects of this " artificial passion," are not so nearly bereft of reason as those who use the intoxicating cup, and the number is not inconsiderable of those who are desirous of knowing the truth. Besides, this subject is better understood than it once was, and the injurious tendencies of the habit are be- coming more generally known and acknowledged. Time was when such ignorance of the legitimate effects of drunkenness existed, that individuals who died from that cause have been supposed to perish by some extraordinary visitation, or some unknown disease. I have recently been made acquainted with the fact of the death of an intem- perate man some forty years ago, whose symptoms of disease are now recollected to have been those of mania apotu; yet it was thought by all who 56 RESPONSES ON THE were conversant with the circumstances of the case at the time, that he died possessed of the devil. In like manner there is the greatest rea- son to believe that when the public mind becomes enlightened with facts, and with just deductions from them, the legitimate effects of the use of tobacco, which are not yet properly understood, will then be recognised by physicians and others, so that the young will be early made acquainted with the perils they encounter when they com- mence this pernicious habit, and physicians will seldom be found so stupid as to recommend this remedy for the cure of the heart-burn, or any other symptom of dyspepsia. Should your zeal or philanthropy lead you to publish more on this subject, might it not be well, after arranging, in suitable divisions, the facts al- ready at hand, together with others that may be procured, to exhibit the great variety of phases in which this subject may affect the social inter- ests of community, and investigate the causes of the more frequent relapses of those who attempt to abandon this habit, than of those who discon- USE OF TOBACCO. 57 tinue the use of intoxicating drinks ? Perhaps, as in the efforts in the cause of temperance, it may be useful to address separately, the different classes of society, as the literary, the sedentary, and the idle, in one class; the laborer and the mechanic in another ; and the young, whose hope and safety consist mainly in prevention, in another. To promote reformation on this subject, it will be necessary that the same application of princi- ples and facts should be made to private interests, as has been done in the temperance cause. The interest of marine insurance companies in the temperance reform has been acknowledged, in some instances, by a bonus granted to temper- ance vessels, and in others, by a reduced pre- mium. That the business of Life Assurance is acknowledged to be equally affected by the ques- tion of temperance appears evident from the in- quiries uniformly made before a policy is given. In the list of questions which are always required to be answered by the physician and friend of the applicant, is this one : " Is he sober or temper- ate ?" In order to his success, it is necessary 58 RESPONSES ON THE that an affirmative answer should be returned. But the interest which Life Assurance Compa- nies have in the tobacco reformation has never yet been pointed out, or practically recognised. If, even now, we take the facts already published and known, and the propositions thus clearly de- monstrated in relation to the effects of tobacco in shortening human life, it may well be asked what propriety there is in insuring the life of a user of tobacco at the same rate as that of one who habitually uses nothing that tends to shorten life. The opinion is expressed by the Hon. John Q. Adams, who has been no mean observer of men and things, and who examines every subject on which he gives an opinion with the discerning eye of a philosopher, that the average of human life is shortened five years by the use of tobacco. Now, as we cannot believe that more than one half of our race are in the habitual use of this drug, the above estimate applied to an individual using tobacco, shows that his life is shortened ten years. This is no contemptible item in estimat- ing the value of life at a given age. The impor- tance of this subject will be more clearly brought home to the bosom of the individual who takes a USE OF TOBACCO. 59 policy from one of the Life Companies formed on the mutual plan, as, in that case, the man who is insured is also an insurer of the lives of others. If, therefore, no preference is given to the one who is free from the habit in question, over him who is addicted to it, the former has just reason to complain ; for he, in the first place, pays a higher premium, and, in the next, his losses are greater than necessary. Thus it would seem that the penalty of this vicious habit is inflicted upon the abstemious equally with the vicious, in the same manner as the expenses attendant upon the pauperism and crime of the inebriate are visited upon the temperate, in the shape of city and county taxes. In fine, the more this subject is examined, the more difficult will it be for the physician to give a negative answer to the following question con- tained in the list above referred to, respecting the applicant for life assurance, who uses to- bacco, " Do you know any circumstance relative to this applicant tending to shorten life ?" But, lest you should deem my suggestions ultra, or 6 60 RESPONSES ON THE ill-timed, I close, by offering you my best wishes for the success of your cause. I am, dear Sir, Most cordially yours, Amatus Robbins. Rev. B. I. Lane. USE OF TOBACCO. 61 II. LETTER FROM THE HONORABLE JUDGE A. J. PARKER. Albany, April 13, 1846. Rev. B. I. Lane, Dear Sir,—I have read with great satisfac- tion your publication entitled, " The Mysteries of Tobacco," and believe it will be productive of great good, in inducing many persons to abandon a very loathsome and pernicious practice. I cheerfully comply with your request to add my own testimony to the stock of valuable informa- tion you have already gathered on this subject. As to my " personal experience," I state that I was in the habit of smoking and chewing to- bacco many years, and it is now between six and seven years since I discontinued its use. The benefits I have enjoyed from its discontinuance, in improved health, are incalculable, and can only be appreciated by one, who, like myself, 62 RESPONSES ON THE has found himself suddenly relieved from a prac- tice which he had long felt was gradually making inroads upon a strong constitution, depressing the spirits, and controlling the will, by its fascinating and almost irresistible influence. I have observed particularly the effects of to- bacco upon students and members of the legal profession, and I am satisfied its habitual use has done more injury to them, personally and profes- sionally, than can be justly ascribed to intoxicat- ing drinks. I believe that persons engaged in pursuits requiring active exercise in the open air, may use tobacco with less injury, because such exercise, and the bracing effects of the fresh air, counteract, in some degree, its deleterious effects ; but to the student or the lawyer, confined by his duties to a sedentary life in his office, or in the impure air of a court-room, the use of tobacco is most destructive in its consequences. It ope- rates immediately upon the nervous system, and produces timidity and want of self-reliance that effectually preclude the young practitioner from venturing upon the higher walks of his profes- sion. He is alarmed at the sound of his own USE OF TOBACCO. 63 voice in court, and distrusting his own ability, soon becomes satisfied with relying on others to argue the causes of his clients, and sinks into the mere attorney. This nervousness will be found to exist in persons of all ages, in the pro- fession, who use tobacco habitually. I have found but few exceptions. It is felt when the bell summons the frightened smoker and tobacco chewer to the court-house, to try the suits he has deliberately commenced and prepared during the previous vacation ; and it is exhibited by the shak- ing hand in holding the affidavit, which, with a trembling voice is read in court, to put off the trial of a cause. To such counsellors, the ap- proach of a circuit, which should be greeted with feelings of professional pride and anticipated pleasure, is dreaded as presenting a formidable ordeal, they would gladly avoid. For the truth of this, I appeal confidently to the experience of those members of the profession who feel these effects on themselves, and witness them in others. If they have doubts as to the cause of these ef- fects, they can be fully, but perhaps unwillingly satisfied in regard to it, by discontinuing the use of tobacco for six months. 64 RESPONSES ON THE I have alluded to the influence of tobacco upoti professional pursuits. It is more properly the pro- vince of the physician to describe particularly its effects on the bodily health. I will only say ge- nerally, that in a person of sedentary habits I am sure its use rarely fails to impair, if it does not destroy the most vigorous constitution. Inde- pendent of the evils growing out of its unnatural influence on the nerves, from its stimulating effect, and the absorption of the poison into the system from contact, and the inhaling of smoke into the lungs, the loss of saliva by expectora- tion cannot fail to derange the functions of the body, and be productive of disease in multiplied forms of suffering. Headache, indigestion, pal- pitation of the heart, and extreme lassitude, are almost constantly complained of by the user of tobacco, who is unwilling to be satisfied of the true cause of his malady. Perhaps he feels that he has not the moral courage and force of char- acter to shake off the chains that bind him, and free himself from a degrading servitude, and is therefore ashamed to admit the truth, of which he is already more than half convinced. USE OF TOBACCO. 65 I regret that I have not time to write you more fully on this subject. It is one of great import- .. ance to the public, and to me of great interest; but being now engaged in a laborious circuit, I have only found a few moments of relief from official duty, to say thus much in answer to your inquiry as to my personal experience and obser- vation. I am, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, Amasa J. Parker. 66 RESPONSES ON THE III. LETTER FROM THE HON. MITCHELL SANFORD. Catskill, April 4, 1846. Rev. B. I. Lane, Dear Sir,—Your letter of inquiry as to my experience in the use of tobacco is received, and I hasten to answer it. In early life from a Fa- ther's example, I commenced its use. I am not aware that I suffered from its use materially and manifestly till I went to college, studied hard, and used it more freely, as persons of studious habits and sedentary life are apt to do. I then suffered greatly from a disordered stomach, and a bilious habit, and I became so dizzy, that I could hardly stand up to recite. I entered the profession of law, and practised with some suc- cess for twelve or fourteen years, the last part of the time in the city of New York. The above symptoms all increased. The dyspepsia, with all its horrid accompaniments, was added to the list USE OF TOBACCO. 67 of miserable ills with which I was afflicted. I never summed up a cause to a jury, or addressed a public audience at this period, but I had serious, and (I now have no doubt) well-founded appre- hensions, that I should fall down dead before them. My tongue was constantly furred and coated so thick with foul matter, from a disor- dered and feverish stomach, that I scraped it off every morning. I was satisfied, as most persons are, that it injured me, but its dreadful extent I did not know, and from time to time left off its use, when nature, true to herself, threw off the oppressive load. But with returning health, re- turned also in greater strength this unnatural ap- petite, till I soon again found myself bound in the iron fetters of this dreadful habit, till at last, worn out with the conflict, I resolved never to quit its use again. From this time my health and strength greatly and gradually declined, my nervous system deranged, so that I was compelled to, and did abandon my profession, and went into the country on a farm, and I had such a horror of a court-house, that for several years I did not enter one 68 responses on the In eighteen hundred and forty, I was elected to the Senate of the State of New York. My nervous system was so disordered, my general health so bad, that I was unable to discharge the duties of the station, and was compelled to retire from a position suited to my taste, profession and age. Time passed on, and the changes which it wrought rendered it necessary that I should re- turn to a profession which I supposed I had aban- doned for ever. I found myself entirely unable to endure its excitement, as the trial of a single cause would prostrate my strength for a week. In this hopeless and miserable condition, with health broken down, spirits greatly depressed, and hope departing, I casually mentioned to the Hon. A. J. Parker now circuit Judge, that I must abandon my profession entirely. He re- plied with great confidence and kindness, that if I would follow his prescription, he would cure me entirely ; but, says he, you will not—you will not;—you will die first. I told him I would do anything, no matter what, to be restored ; at the same time saying, that the thing was impossible. USE OF TOBACCO. 69 His simple prescription was, " abandon the use of tobacco, and I will guarantee your cure. I know it all,—I have felt it all,—I have loved the weed well,—but I have abandoned it forever, and the victory is gained, when you ivill to gain it." I engaged upon the spot never to use it again, and from that day to this, I have never desired to use it. Three years have already passed, and I can say with the blind man, I was sick, I am well ; I was weak, I am strong; I was dejected, I am full of hope ; the world was dark, it is now bright. In a word, I am entirely cured, disease has fled and nature triumphed over its ravages, and for all the gold tobacco ever got, I would not return to its use ; and when I see a pale-faced slender man, whose constitution I know cannot endure the wear and tear of this slow, sure poi=on, I feel for him the same deep commiseration, as I would to see him put a knife to his throat with suicidal intent; the one is as certain death as the other ; and thousands upon thousands I doubt not have gone down to an early grave by disease engen- dered by this habit. 70 RESPONSES ON THE This letter is already too long, but indeed I never know where to stop when upon this sub- ject, for I have suffered more than enough to counterbalance all the pleasure that all the to- bacco users in all time ever enjoyed. It is the bane, the curse of professional, studious men. It operates directly upon the nervous system, and prostrates it. Thus, you see, Sir, my experience in the use of tobacco has been sad, very sad. It has turned into bitterness the healthful current of my life, sowed the seeds of disease through my whole system, and brought me down from the summit of high health and robust strength to the very borders of the grave, and, under the kind provi- dence of God, I am indebted to the timely warn- ing and kind advice of Judge Parker, for life pre- served and health restored, with all its attendant blessings to myself and family. I owe it all to him ; and as I can cancel the mighty obligation in no other way, I lose no opportunity of warning others, of this fatal rock on which I was well nigh wrecked. Tobacco is a more deadly poi- son than alcohol, and is cousin german to it in USE OF TOBACCO. 71 all its miseries, and far worse in its filth. And when the fair ones of the land shall sing their song of triumph and victory, as they will, over the destruction of both these foes to their well being, they can say as of old, " Alcohol has slain its thousands," and Tobacco " its ten thousands." I rejoice, Sir, that you are engaged in this cause. You have done good and will do more. I am, truly, Your obedient servant, Mitchell San ford. 72 RESPONSES ON THE IV. LETTER FROM REV. S. MILLER, D.D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Govern- ment in the Theological Seminary, Princeton, N. J. Princeton, December 27, 1845. My dear Sir : I have just received your circular requesting from me some information respecting the habitual use of Tobacco. I wish it were in my power to give you the information which you desire, in more minute detail, and to a more ample amount than I am able to furnish. I will venture to say, that you can call upon no one more willing than my- self to join in a crusade against that vile narcotic, which has destroyed the health and the lives of so many thousands, and undermined the morals of so many of its slaves. In my own person I never had mucn experi- ence of the mischiefs of this noxious, and nau- seous stimulant. For, in early life, I became so USE OF TOBACCO. 73 deeply convinced of its injurious tendency, and of its morbid and revolting effects, that I have never been in the habit of using it in any form , and I have brought up a large family of children under such impressions respecting it, that they have all, without exception, abhorred and avoided its use. It ought to be known to all who are tempted to begin the use of tobacco, that the progress of habit in the use of this article, is the same as in the use of opium, of ardent spirits, and of all in- toxicating liquors. One step of indulgence leads to another, and another. No one can promise himself to remain master of his own appetite. I have known a few persons, indeed, who have continued, for many years, to exercise neatness, caution, and moderation, in the use of this stim- ulant, and who seemed never to be enslaved by it; but these have been few indeed. I have known many more, who, insensibly, became such miserable slaves to this habit, that they could hardly endure existence, when deprived of their customary indulgence, and were altogether unfit for any comfortable exercise of mind, or body. 74 RESPONSES ON THE The physical mischiefs wrought on the human frame by the habitual use of Tobacco, are too numerous to be recounted in such a communica- tion as this. It may be said, " their name is Le- gion, for they are many." I have known it most strikingly to interfere with healthful and comfort- able digestion ; and as the relations of this func- tion of the human stomach to health and disease are so numerous and intimate, no one can estimate the mischievous influence it is continually exert- ing on every part of the body. It causes a pre- ternatural flow and waste of the saliva, which is so important an element in the functions of the stomach. I have known chewing, smoking, and snuffing in a multitude of cases, to operate in- juriously on the nervous system ; producing the most distressing tremors, permanent and incura- ble nervous derangement, and in some aggravated cases, epilepsy, palsy, and even apoplexy. Many people imagine that chewing and smok- ing tobacco have a favorable effect on the mind ; and hence, many students have been betrayed into these habits, in the hope of being aided in their intellectual tasks. Brandy, wine, and opium USE OF TOBACCO. 75 have all been resorted to for the same purpose. But while they have brought with them some temporary aid, that aid has generally proved in- sidious and delusive. They are all followed by a corresponding depression. I have known some smokers and chewers, when, by particular circum- stances, deprived of their customary stimulus, in the cigar or the quid, thrown, by the privation, into a state of torture which rendered them total- ly unfit for any mental or bodily exercise,—nay, objects of compassion to all around them. Sure- ly this is a costly auxiliary in study, which no wise man would be willing to purchase at so dear a rate. But further, the use, and especially the exces sive use of tobacco, is apt to betray into habits of tippling. Both smoking and chewing are apt to induce thirst;—thirst, of course, leads to drink- ing ; and as cold water will ever prove an insipid beverage to those whose mouth and fauces are in a state of excitement, something more stimulating will naturally be sought. Thus close is the con- nection between tobacco and drunkenness. 76 RESPONSES ON THE Nor is the habitual use of snuff much less in- jurious. I have been acquainted with many cases in which its morbid influence on the ner- vous system was manifest and deplorable ;—in which the voice was greatly affected by it; and the complexion very sensibly injured. On the whole, from the observation of a long life, I cannot doubt, that in nine cases out often, the habitual use of tobacco, does, in some mea- sure, impair health and shorten life. I know that this will be denied by multitudes to whom it just- ly applies. Many whom I have warned and en- treated on this subject, insisted that they took no more " than did them good." Yet their friends were convinced that they were totally deceived. I will only add, that the bearing of this habit on good manners, and the comfort of social inter- course, is more serious than is commonly ima- gined. Some gentlemen, and very many of the other sex, are not only incommoded by the pre- sence and the habits of the devotees of tobacco, but absolutely made sick by them. What real gentleman would be willing to be a nuisance in LSE OF TOBACCO. 77 every parlor, and in every public and private conveyance which he entered ? On all these accounts, I exhort the young and the old with whom I have any influence, to guard carefully against the use of tobacco in any form. I say to them with emphasis, and earnestness, " Touch not, taste not, handle not." And when I see boys and young men chewing their quid, or smoking their cigars, I say to myself—these dear young people are under infatuated training ; and are probably on the road to temporal and eternal ruin. I am, dear Sir, with the best wishes for the usefulness of your Book, Yours, respectfully, Samuel Miller. 78 RESPONSES ON THE V. LETTER FROM C. A. LEE, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica in Geneva Medical College. New-York, January 17, 1846. Rev. B. I. Lane, Dear Sir,—I shall reply in brief to your circular this day received : I. I have witnessed numerous cases of disease brought on by the use of tobacco. In order of frequency they are, 1. Derangements of the di- gestive organs; 2. Of the nervous system ; 3. Of the circulatory system ; 4. Of the respiratory. Some of the worst cases of dyspepsia I have ever attended, owed their origin to the use of tobacco. This might be inferred from the fact that a portion of the poison is swallowed, and comes in contact with the delicate nervous ex- pansion of the stomach ; and when smoked, the nervous energy, on which healthy digestion de- USE OF TOBACCO. 79 pends, is weakened, from the absorption of the deleterious principle into the blood, and its being brought in contact with every portion of nervous matter in the system. I am inclined to attribute a very large proportion of the causes of derange- ment of the digestive organs, that we so frequently meet with in our country, to the common, and ex- cessive use of tobacco. Nervous diseases I have also often found occa- sioned by the same article. It seems to relax and unhinge, as it were, the nervous energy ; making man cowardly, effeminate, and excitable, and in many instances, probably, laying the foundation of insanity. Diseases of the heart, I do not question, often arise from the use of tobacco. I have frequently met with functional diseases of this organ, at- tended with irregular pulse, palpitations, a sense of sinking at the precordial region, &c, brought on by chewing or smoking this article, as proved by all the symptoms speedily vanishing, soon after its use was discontinued, and it can scarcely ad- mit of doubt, that organic disease of the heart 80 RESPONSES ON THE will often result from the same cause. I could relate numerous cases of this kind, some of which occurred among clergymen, were it neces- sary—but they are precluded by my limits. II. I have occasionally smoked a mild cigar for its medicinal effects, and found it not a disagree- able anodyne, in an irritable state of the nervous system. I apprehend, however, that the frequent resort to the " weed" as a medicine, would, like alcoholic liquors, rather aggravate the condition for which it is remedially employed. Its use, like that of other medicinal agents, should be left entirely to the judgment of an enlightened and sober physician. III. I have seen no death immediately resulting from the use of tobacco ; though I cannot doubt that I have seen many cases prove fatal, the foun- dation of which was laid by this article. IV. I do think that its continued use shortens life; for I do not believe that man is so consti- tuted, that he can subject himself with impunity to the habitual influence of any poisonous agent. USE OF TOBACCO. 81 The system may, to a certain extent, become habituated to the effects of powerful deleterious causes, so that no positive injurious consequences are visible, as inhaling malaria ;—but it will be found, on examination, that the average duration of life is always shortened. Enlightened physi- ology rejects this doctrine of the innocuousness of poisons in small doses, although it may be en- dorsed by appetite, self-indulgence, and absurd theory. Your humble servant, Charles A. Lee. 82 aESPONSES ON THE VI. LETTER FROMARAD JOY, ESQ. Ovid, N. Y., March 6, 1846. Dear Sir : Absence to Washington, for eleven weeks, has prevented an earlier reply to your circular of the 20th of November. I am highly pleased with the work that you are engaged in. When on my way home, in New York, I purchased the " Mysteries of Tobacco." I am a member of an anti-tobacco society of Geneva, and have long been. In answer to your inquiries, I. I knew a married woman of forty-five, or fifty, who was a toper at smoking a pipe. It so enfeebled her, as to prevent her from doing much labor for years, and finally brought her to her bed, and confined her altogether. She became so en- feebled as not to be able to get to the fire to light her own pipe ; and her friends, believing that she was killing herself, as it were, by inches, came USE OF TOBACCO. 83 to the conclusion not to do it for her. She was consequently forced to stop smoking. After a week or two, she began to recover, and believing with her friends, that it injured her, she resolved to abandon the pipe. She soon became a healthy woman, and continued so for many years, but never more used her pipe. II. I am happy to say that I never got so low as to use tobacco in any form. III. I am fully of the opinion that tobacco, in any quantity, is a slow poison, undermines health, and shortens life. I knew a man who had used tobacco in the form of chewing, for thirty years. He was a thin, lank, and spare man, and never very well. He resolved to quit tobacco, and did so, at once. His tongue became parched up, and so dry as to injure his speech. He made use of a stone of the size of his former quid, which aided the flow of saliva. He soon recov- ed from these disagreeable effects, his health im- proved weekly, and for the next ten years, he was able to do, and did do, more labor than he had for the last twenty years. He gained in flesh S 84 RESPONSES ON THE twenty or thirty pounds; and he informed me that he enjoyed life a thousand times better than he had for many years. He attributed it all to the discontinuance of the use of tobacco. I am, Sir, respectfully, Your obedient servant, Arad Joy. USE OF TOBACCO. 85 VII. LETTER FROM MOSES LONG, M.D. Rochester, December 19, 1845. Rev. B. I. Lane. Dear Sir,—Your circular of the 20th ult., has been received ; and in answer to your inqui- ries, I would say, I. That I have prescribed for numerous cases of disease, which, unquestionably, had their ori- gin in, or were greatly aggravated by the habitual use of tobacco. II. I have had thorough personal experience of its effects, and can speak with confidence. At the age of about sixteen years, I very un- wisely commenced chewing and smoking tobac- co, and used it unremittingly, for fourteen years. Previous to this, my health, in the main, had been very good—I had a remarkably steady hand ; but 86 RESPONSES ON THE subsequently, it became tremulous, so much so, at times, as to render it difficult even to write legibly. As I continued its use, its deleterious effects were still more thoroughly developed, by emaciation, loss of appetite, indigestion, vertigo, and epilepsy. These afflictive maladies seemed to call loudly for reformation. So I attempted to relinquish its use gradually, till it could be omitted entirely without inconvenience. But after several ineffectual trials, finding the stubbornness of my long-continued ha- bits so unyielding, I found it necessary to adopt a more sure course, that of omitting it entirely at once. I therefore laid it aside fourteen years, when, by way of experiment, I used it for one day only, which was sufficient to convince me that I could soon make it as welcome a guest as ever. From that day, nearly fifteen years have elapsed (twenty-nine in all) since I discontinued its use. The consequence was a decided im- provement in my general health, and the most alarming symptoms soon subsided, and eventual- ly passed off entirely. III. I have seen diseases terminate fatally which I had reason to believe had their origin in USE OF TOBACCO. 87 the use of tobacco. The most immediate and alarming effects I ever witnessed was that of the application of tobacco juice to cure a ring-worm. I communicated this case to Professor Reuben D. Mussey, then lecturing at Bowdoin College, Mass. It may be found in his publication on tobacco, as follows, viz : "TOBACCO JUICE FOR THE CURE OF RING-WORM." " Doctor M. Long, of Warner, N. H., writes me under date of April 26, 1834, that, on the 6th of May, 1825, he was consulted by Mrs F., on account of her little daughter, L. F., then five years old, who had a small ring-worm, scarcely three-fourths of an inch in diameter, situated upon the root of the nose. Her object was to ascer- tain the Doctor's opinion, as to the propriety of making a local application of tobacco in the case. He objected to it as an exceedingly hazardous measure; and, to impress his opinion more fully, related a case, a record of which he had seen, in which a father destroyed the life of his little son, by the use of tobacco spittle upon an erup- tion or humor of the head. 8* 88 RESPONSES ON THE " Immediately after the Dr. left the house, the mother besmeared the tip of her finger with a little of the strong juice from the grand-mother's tobac- co pipe, and proceeded to apply it to the ring- worm, remarking, that ' if it should strike to the stomach, it must go through the nose.' The in- stant the mother's finger touched the part affected, the eyes of the little patient were rolled up in their sockets, she sallied back, and in the act of falling was caught by the alarmed mother. The part was immediately washed with cold water, with a view to dislodge the poison. But this was to no pur- pose, for the jaws were already firmly locked together, and the patient was in a senseless and apparently dying state. The Doctor, who had stopped three-fourths of a mile distant, to see a patient, was presently called in. ' The symp- toms were coldness of the extremities, no per- ceptible pulse at the wrists, the jaws set together, deep insensibility, the countenance deathly.' He succeeded in opening the jaws, so as to admit the administration of the spirits of ammonia and lav- ender ; frictions were employed, and every thing done, which, at the time, was thought likely to USE OF TOBACCO. 89 promote resuscitation, but it was an hour and a half before the little patient was so far recovered as to be able to speak. " Till this time," says Dr. L., " the child had been robust and healthy, never having had but one illness that required medical advice ; but, since the tobacco experiment, she has been con- tinually feeble and sickly. The first four or five years after this terrible operation, she was subject to fainting fits every three or four weeks, some- times lasting from twelve to twenty-four hours ; and many times, in those attacks, her life ap- peared to be in imminent danger. Within the last three or four years, those turns have been less severe." Since communicating the above case to Dr. Mussey, I have been called to prescribe for the same patient for Menorrhagia, induced probably by general debility. IV. In consequence of the enervating effects of tobacco upon the system, the disturbance of the secretions, and the animal functions general- 90 RESPONSES ON THE ly, I am of opinion, that even a continued mode- rate use of it will inevitably shorten life. Very respectfully, Sir, Your obedient servant, Moses Long. USE OF TOBACCO. 91 VIII. LETTER FROM FREDERIC MORGAN, M.D. Colchester, Conn., Janaury 17, 1846. Rev. B. I. Lane. Dear Sir,—A few weeks ago, I received your circular containing several queries, relating to the use of tobacco, to which I will now most cheerfully return you an answer. I. In reply to your first inquiry : I have seen many cases of dyspepsia in persons somewhat ad- vanced in life, or of feeble constitution, brought on, as I believe, by the use of tobacco. II. in reply to your second inquiry, I can say I have had much experience in the use of this article. I began with it when I was about seven- teen years old, and continued to use it twenty-one years, or until I was thirty-eight years of age. During the greater part of this time, I made way with more than a pound of tobacco a month, and 92 RESPONSES ON THE although I was often troubled with cardialgy, nausea, and anorexy, such was my infatuation with regard to this matter, that I did not suppose it was doing me any injury. But in the autumn of 1829, partly to induce a friend who lived near me to quit tobacco-chewing, whose health I be- lieved was seriously impaired by it, and partly from a conviction that I could not, on temperance principles, justify the use of this narcotic, any more than that of alcohol, I resolved to cut the acquaintance of tobacco at once, and forever, and, by the grace of God, I have kept my reso- lution. What I endured while passing through the weaning process, I will not attempt to de- scribe,—thus much, however, I will say, that at no time did I fpel as bad as I had often felt when my stock of tobacco was exhausted, and I was so situated that I could not, for a time, obtain a new supply. The uneasine'ss which I experienced, while undergoing, so to speak, the transition, gradually subsided, and after about two months, was en- tirely gone. I soon gained about ten pounds in weight, which I have never since lost. In the USE OF TOBACCO. 93 course of the last eight years of my use of to- bacco, I had several attacks of rheumatism, and after the first, which was very severe, I was not clear of this complaint for any length of time, during the whole period. But since I ceased to use this narcotic, I have not had a particle of rheumatism, and have enjoyed uniformly good health—much better than at any previous period of my life. III. In answer to your third inquiry, I am not prepared to say that I have seen any case of death which could be directly traced to the use of tobacco. IV. In answer to the fourth inquiry—I enter- tain no doubt, that even the moderate use of this article, (to say nothing of the excessive use,) by impairing the general health, often shortens hu- man life. With the best wishes for your success in ex- posing and preventing the evils which result from the use of this filthy, and as I believe, noxiou.-; article, and with the hope that the rising genera- 94 RESPONSES ON THE tion in our country, will think and act more wise- ly on this subject than their predecessors. I am your most obedient And humble servant, Frederic Morgan. USE OF TOBACCO. 95 IX. EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM W. HOOKER, M.D. Norwich, Conn., January 10, 1846. Dear Sir : Your letter was mislaid, but I hope that my reply, if it be worth anything to you, will not be too late. I do not call to mind any cases of disease evidently produced by tobacco alone, but I have seen many cases of chronic disease, in producing which I thought it quite clear tobacco had consi- derable influence. I do think that the continued moderate use of tobacco by a healthy person shortens life. I base this opinion not upon definite facts, but upon that observation from day to day which the physician exercises in regard to the effects of agents upon 9 96 RESPONSES ON THE the human constitution, and which, though indefi- nite, makes up a large part of his experience. Among the cases that have come under my notice illustrating the deleterious effects of to- bacco, I will mention one related to me by a clerical friend. He said that he was once for many years, in the habitual and enormous use of tobacco. He became convinced that it was the cause of his ill health, and resolved to leave it off. He did so, and the change was so great, that, for a month, he was scarcely able to do any thing; but after that his health became perfectly good, and has remained so ever since. Yours, &c, VV. Hooker. USE OF TOBACCO. 97 X. LETTER FROM E. C. DELAVAN, ESQ, Albany, December 10, 1845. My Dear Sir : I have your note of the 24th November. In reply to your various questions I have to state : I. I have known of a great many persons who have become much diseased by the use of tobacco. II. I have some slight personal knowledge of the effects of this poisonous and disgusting weed. When about twelve years old, on seeing gentle- men use tobacco, I was anxious to become a gentleman too, and as speedily as possible. So I purchased a yard of what was called the pig- tail, and commenced chewing it, as I walked, or rather strutted through the streets of Albany. I had not walked over a mile before I became so deadly sick that I crept under a shed, where I remained several hours, before I could regain 98 RESPONSES ON THE strength sufficient to return home. I made a subsequent attempt to become a gentleman on cigars, but was equally unsuccessful. III. I have frequently heard physicians say that they had known cases of death from the use of tobacco. I have no doubt that fifty thousand persons annually die, prematurely by many years, from the use of this destructive plant. I look upon the use of tobacco, in health, ex- actly in the same light, in a moral point of view, as I do the use of alcoholic poisons. And I have no more doubt that even what is called the moderate use of tobacco shortens life, than I have that the moderate use of rum shortens life. I am truly yours, Edward C. Delavan. USE OF TOBACCO. 99 XI. LETTER FROM THE HON. H. J. REDFIELD. Batavia, December, 1, 1845. Rev B. I. Lane. Dear Sir,—Your circular of the 20th ult., was duly received. A continued pressure of business has prevented an earlier reply. In answer to your questions I have to state : I. I have witnessed many cases of disease produced, as I believe, by the use of tobacco. LI. I have had a long and sad personal expe- rience of its injurious effects upon my constitu- tion and health, having been in the daily use of tobacco for more than twenty-five years. During this period, I experienced, at times, excessive de- bility and nervous prostration. I was, moreover, subject to very painful bilious attacks—usually twice a year. These attacks usually confined 100 RESPONSES ON THE me several days, and required the attendance of a physician. I abandoned entirely the use of tobacco nearly three years ago. My health has since been excellent—have been entirely exempt from bilious attacks, and weigh about twenty pounds more than I did when in the use of this pernicious weed. III. I cannot say, with entire certainty, that I have witnessed any instance of death resulting from the use of tobacco. IV. I have no doubt that its continued mode- rate use, by a healthy person, does shorten life. Its continued use for many years, will undoubt- edly affect injuriously the strongest constitution. Its use benefits no one, injures all, and destroys many. I need not say that it is exceedingly poi- sonous, and destructive of animal life generally. It is in every respect a pernicious weed. Lands cultivated for bread, or for any thing necessary for the subsistence of man, may, by proper care, be kept in a state of perpetual fertility. But the culture of tobacco makes barren the soil upon which it is raised. It is exceedingly difficult, if USE OF TOBACCO. 101 not impossible, to restore the fertility of lands, which have, for any considerable length of time, been used for the culture of tobacco. Very respectfully yours, He man J. Redfiell 102 RESPONSES ON THE XII. LETTER FROM MOSES TAGGORT, ESQ. Batavia, December 11, 1845. Dear Sir : Not having sufficient personal knowledge of the deleterious effects of tobacco upon the human system, I took the liberty to request Dr. Gauson to answer the several interrogatories contained in your circular of the 20th ult., addressed to me. Personally I can state that I was an habitual tobacco-chewer from February, 1823, to Decem- ber, 1835, and from that time have totally ab- stained from its use. I used it (in my own esti- mation) moderately, rarely exceeding one small paper a week; and never supposed I experi- enced any injurious effects from it, until I ceased using it. I then found a perceptible improve- ment in my health, and am now convinced that its use was injurious to me. USE OF TOBACCO. 103 I have heard of one case of death from the use of tobacco, and have strong suspicions that one other person whom I knew, died in conse- quence of its use. Your obedient servant, M. Taggort. 104 RESPONSES ON THE XIII. LETTER FROM HOLTON GAUSON, M.D, Batavia, December 8, 1845. Dear Sir : In your circular of the 20th ult., addressed to Moses Taggort, Esq., of this place, I find a clas- sification of four interrogatives, relating to the effects of tobacco on the human system. In complying with the request that " a brief answer is desired," I will proceed at once to respond to the first interrogation. During the eleven years of my practice as a physician, I have treated several cases of bilious colic, the exciting cause of which I could trace directly or indirectly to the habitual use of this poisonous drug. In a conversation with the Hon. Heman J. Redfield a few days since, he assured me that having relinquished the use of tobacco for the last three years, he had avoided USE OF TOBACCO. 105 severe attacks of colic, to which he had been previously liable. Besides colic, I have known many cases of dyspepsia, sore throats, and inveterate nervous difficulties, produced by it. In my reply to the second question, I would mention that for a few years previous to the 4th of November, 1S43, I was in the daily habit of smoking more or less cigars. The active pro- perties of tobacco exerted a powerful and delete- rious influence on the liver, and greatly deranged all the digestive organs. Determining to the head, it at times produced overpowering vertigo. Act- ing locally on the mucous surface of the mouth, and the enamel of the teeth, it inflamed the one and deranged the other. Its baneful influence upon the nerves, I have as yet scarcely recovered from. As a cure to this troublesome and perni- cious habit, I am indebted to a sea voyage across the Atlantic. In reply to your last inquiry, I can give a de- cidedly affirmative answer. It is conceded by 106 RESPONSES ON THE intelligent medical men, that in persons of a pe- culiar constitution, tobacco engenders a variety of diseases which abridge life by many years. Respectfully yours, Holton Gauson. USE OF TOBACCO. 107 XIV. LETTER FROM REV. L. MERCEREAU. West Troy, February 17, 1846. Dear Sir : In answer to your request that I would relate my experience in the use of tobacco, permit me to state, that in relation to its use as a luxury, I am able to say but little, as I have very seldom attempted to use it; and whenever I have, it in- variably produced an indescribably disagreeable sickness. And its effect on my constitution, when used as a medicine, is no less powerful, deleterious, and disagreeable. To show its wonderful medi- cinal properties, I will state a fact, as one fact especially in relation to human physiology, is better than a thousand theories. Some years since, I was attacked with inflammatory rheuma- tism, which finally located itself in my left shoul- der. The pain was severe, and my suffering 10 108 RESPONSES ON THE considerable. While in this condition, one of my kind and sympathising neighbors called to see me, and advised that a large leaf taken di- rectly from the green stalk of the tobacco plant, be wetted and applied to the part affected. I complied with the advice. The article was pro- cured, prepared and applied. In a few minutes I fell into a profound sleep. How long I thus lay is not known—perhaps one hour. When my friends observed me, I was in an uncon- scious, but convulsed state. They were very much alarmed, and supposed me to be dying, being ignorant of the cause of my condition; for they thought not of the poisonous influence of to- bacco. At this crisis, our family physician pro- videntially called in—looked on me, and said I was poisoned. He removed the tobacco leaf, and administered to my relief. After some days I recovered. Such was its effect on me, that my physician affirmed, that had the application been continued a little longer, it would have caused my death. Wishing you great success in your noble enterprize, believe me, dear Sir, Most respectfully, yours, Lawrence Merc ere au. USE OF TOBACCO. 109 XV. LETTER FROM JOSEPH SPEED, M.D. Carolina, N. Y., December, 25, 1845. Dear Sir : I have just received yours of the 20th ult., on the subject of tobacco. In reply to your first question, I say that I have no doubt that I have. To the second—With sorrow I have to tell you that I used tobacco by chewing and smoking between forty-five and fifty years, and with great injury to my constitution. For the last twenty years of using it, I was dyspeptic; and can say with truth, I think, that, for that time, I was not once sleepy or hungry. I usually lay as much as two hours, after going to bed at night, before I could sleep, and the minute before I got to sleep, I was as wide awake as I am now, and was unconscious of any sleepy feeling at all. . If 110 RESPONSES ON THE I passed the usual time of eating, instead of get- ting hungry, I got sick at my stomach, or had the head-ache, and sometimes both. Soon after leav- ing off the use of tobacco, my appetite returned as strong as in my youth, and sleepiness with it, so that I could get to sleep as soon as most people, very soon after going to bed. Since leaving the use of tobacco, which is now fifteen years, I have enjoyed better health than any fifteen years of my life before. I have very seldom indeed an ache or a pain, or sickness of any kind ; and except- ing my having had the influenza twice in the time, I have scarcely had a cold worth calling a cold. Now nearly seventy-three years old, I feel none of the infirmities of age, except clumsiness. But perhaps it is proper I should add, that with my tobacco, I threw away alcoholic drinks, of every kind, as also spices, pickles, short-cakes, and desserts of every description; and I put no- thing into my stomach that I think ought not to go there : and great has been my reward. It is the imprudences of youth that entail so many in- firmities on old age. To your third inquiry, I will not speak posi- USE OF TOBACCO. Ill tively, but I believe, it has been the death of a great many. Fourth—I have no doubt that its continued moderate use does shorten life, that it brings on innumerable fatal diseases, and always aggravates those brought on by other causes. With great respect, and thanks for the interest you take in this cause, I am most respectfully yours, Joseph Speed. Rev. B. I. Lane. 10* 112 responses on the XVI. LETTER FROM REV. ROBERT ALLYN, Wesleyan Academy, ) Wilbraham, Mass., Jan. 17, 1846. \ Rev. B. I. Lane. Dear Sir,—I have only a moment of time to devote to a reply to your circular of Nov. 20. I think I have seen cases of dyspepsia, evident- ly produced by the immoderate use of tobacco. I can cheerfully and thankfully answer that I have no personal experience of its effects. And I consider it one of God's greatest mercies, that surrounded as I have been by smokers and chewers, he has not suffered me to fall into a habit the most slovenly and disgusting. I have no doubt but that the continual drain on the physical system for saliva, to be thrown off in spittle, does almost invariably shorten life. USE OF TOBACCO. 113 The laws of man's being compel me to such a conclusion ; and then experience, I think, coin- cides with this view. I could write much more in my zeal against tobacco in any form; but bre- vity says stop. I am yours respectfully, Robert Allyn. 114 RESPONSES ON THE XVII. LETTER FROM REV. J. HOLDICH, D.D., Professor of Moral Science, etc., in the Wesleyan Univer- sity, Middle town, Conn. Middletown, January 2, 1846. Rev. and Dear Sir : Your circular requesting information concern- ing the effects of the use of tobacco, was handed to me a little more than three weeks ago, after I had taken my seat in the stage to leave home. I returned the night before last, and take the earli- est opportunity to write you a line in reply. The unimportance of my answer is such as to make me unwilling to trouble you, and I now write only to assure you that I am not insensible to the value of your undertaking. I am not able from actual knowledge or observation, to answer any of your questions in the affirmative. I have never used tobacco in any way habitually, and consider the use of it, whether chewing, snuffing, or smoking, especially the two former modes, USE OF TOBACCO. 115 most nauseous and disgusting. Yet I believe, that in some few cases, it may be beneficial, but to so small an extent, that the world would be an immense gainer by its entire abandoment. There are few greater practical errors committed than retaining a very prevalent evil, for the sake of a few incidental, and perhaps unimportant ad- vantages. This error gives support to the use of intoxicating liquors, horse-racing, lotteries, thea- trical amusements, &c. [ have not been able to say with certainty that I have known any case of death produced by this cause ; though I have known several in- stances in which tobacco was believed to have greatly contributed to an enfeebled and emaciated state of the physical system. One case, within my knowledge, that comes nearest to your pur- pose is the following : A young man of my ac- quaintance, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, about twenty-five years ago, consulted a physician as to the cause of his great debility, and the derange- ment of his digestive functions. The physician inquired if he did not use tobacco. On answer- ing in the affirmative, and being assured that this H6 RESPONSES ON THE was tne chief cause of his difficulty, he immedi- ately discharged from his mouth an immense quid, determining from that time, to use the arti- cle no more. His heath, in consequence, very soon began to improve. He persevered in his resolution for some time with manifest advantage, until on receiving a keg of a very fine quality— for he was a tobacconist—he was induced to taste it, when, like the toper, his habit returned upon him with all its former power. But what the final result was, I do not know, as I soon after- wards left that part of the country. I remain, Sir, Your obedient servant, Joseph Holdich. Rev. B. I. Lane. USE OF TOBACCO. 117 XVIII. LETTER FROM REV. ALBERT BARNES. Philadelphia, November, 26, 1845. Rev. B. I. Lane. My dear Sir,—Your favor of the 20th inst. came to hand this evening. I would give a brief answer to your questions : I. I have not witnessed any cases of disease which I could say were evidently produced by the use of tobacco. II. I have had some considerable personal ex- perience of its effects. I used it both in chewing and smoking about five years, and in both methods quite immoderately. It produced decidedly un- happy and deleterious effects on me, making me nervous, and producing, such were the quantities which I used, almost a constant and distressing nausea. I became, now more than twenty years 118 RESPONSES ON THE ago, convinced that it was injurious to me, and abandoned the practice at once and forever. I have in no way indulged in its use since, and no consideration would induce me to do it. I have no doubt that I owe much, very much, in regard to my health, as well as comfort, to the fact that I abandoned it. III. I cannot say that I have witnessed any in- stances of death resulting from its use, but I have been informed, mainly by a physician, an elder in my church, of such an instance, in the death of a gentleman of distinguished talents. He was from the State of Maryland ; was an elder in a Presby- terian Church ; was a man of high standing, and fine legal attainments ; and died at the age of about thirty-five. His death it has always been said was caused by the use of tobacco. I knew him personally, and from his manner of using it, I have no doubt that that was the cause of his death. IV. I have not the slightest doubt that its con- tinued moderate use, by a healthy person, shor- tens life. USE OF TOBACCO. 119 I will add a volunteer remark, that I detest its use most cordially, and am exceedingly annoyed by it in any form, and by whomsoever used. I am truly yours, Albert Barnes. 11 120 RESPONSES ON THE XIX. LETTER FROM REV. JOSEPH HURLBURT. New London, December 20, 1845. Rev. B. I. Lane. Dear Sir,—In reply to the several interro- gatories addressed to me in your circular, I would say to the First—That I have witnessea many cases of disease evidently produced by the habitual use of tobacco, and particularly among students in college. Those of a nervous temperament, or those of a constitution inclined to consumption, have invariably suffered from the use of tobacco in any form. I have known it to produce palpi- tation of the heart, vertigo, extreme irritation of the stomach, and in some instances, spitting of blood—terminating in decline. In short, I have known very many injured, but never saw an in- stance in which any one was benefitted by the use of tobacco. USE OF TOBACCO. 121 To the second question I am happy to say, I have no personal experience of its effects, having never used it. I am the oldest of six brothers grown up to manhood, neither of us ever having used tobacco, or our father before us. We are all consequently cold water men to the death. I say consequently, because I never knew an intem- perate man, who was not addicted to the use of tobacco in some form, generally to great excess. Your third and fourth questions are answered generally in my reply to your first. But I will add that I have not a doubt, that it shortens life in many instances. Sure I am that many clergy- men have been laid aside from their Master's work, by the use of tobacco, and others con- signed to an untimely grave. In short, I can truly say, I have contended with this filthy habit, (whenever I could with propriety,) from my youth up ; and have long considered it, with my friend Dr. Cox, " an utter abomination." With sentiments of regard and best wishes, I am, Sir, Yours very respectfully, J. HURLBURT. 122 RESPONSES ON THE XX. LETTER FROM REV. WILLIAM WISNER, D.D. Ithaca, November 25, 1845. Dear Sir : I have just received your circular on the sub- ject of tobacco, and, though I am pressed with the duties of my office, I have determined to lose no time in answering it I have not seen your book, though I have read the introduction to it by my old friend, Dr. Cox, and do greatly rejoice that you have made an effort to check an unhealthy, filthy, and universal practice. In answer to your first question, I would say, that I have witnessed many cases where I have had no manner of doubt that serious chronic dis- eases have been brought on by the use of tobacco. I knew two respectable physicians who were well USE OF TOBACCO. 123 satisfied themselves, that they had broken their constitutions, and brought themselves to the bor- ders of the grave by the use of it. I knew two other gentlemen, the one a minister of the gospel, who were for years greatly emaciated and troubled with a severe cough, with other symptoms of dis- eased lungs, who, on being persuaded to give up the use of tobacco, both became immediately bet- ter, and are now, and have been for many years, perfectly healthy men. I know another case of a very respectable man, who has told me that he knew he was injuring both his body and mind by it, but had not resolution to give it up. Another still—a minister of the gospel, who was so much affected with a determination of blood, to the head, that he would sometimes, when walking the streets, have to sit down on the first thing he could find, to keep from falling. This man, after giving up the use of the filthy plant for a few months, told me that his head had become clear, and ceased to trouble him. In answer to the second question, I would say that though I used it myself for eight years, it was in the days of my early youth, and my con- 11* 124 RESPONSES ON THE stitution was then so vigorous that I was not sen- sible of any particular effect, except that when using it more freely than usual, it would produce a temporary pain in my head. In answer to the third, I would say that I do not feel competent to decide that any case of the use of it, which I have seen, has been the imme- diate cause of death. I would answer the last question decidedly in the affirmative. I cannot conceive how it is pos- sible that any man can live in the habitual use of so deadly a poison, without gradually drying up the fountain of life. How a Christian can consent to spend his Lord's money for an article which most judicious medical men believe injurious to both body and mind, and which makes him extremely offensive to most of those who do not use it, is a question which I can only solve by supposing that it blunts the moral feelings of the soul, and renders the moral perceptions more dull than they would otherwise be. USE OF TOBACCO. 125 Who does not know that most of us who do not use it are annoyed greatly when we are in company of those who do "? But would any con- sistent Christian do to others habitually, what he, if he could change places with those whom he annoys, would not have done to himself, if his moral feelings were not impaired ? But I must bring my letter to a close, by wish- ing you success in your benevolent undertaking, and subscribe myself Yours, truly, though in haste, William Wisner. Rev. B. I. Lane. 126 responses on the XXI. LETTER FROM REV. LEONARD WOODS, D.D., Abbot Professor of Christian Theology, in the Theological Seminary, Andover. Rev. B. I. Lane. Dear Sir,—I heartily wish success to every effort made to abolish the use of tobacco. There are very few young men who come here from the colleges, with the habit of using it in any of its forms. In past years, I have been called to en- counter it often ; and I have urged upon my pupils, the hurtful influence of the habit, and also how inconsistent and degrading it is for Christians, and especially young men preparing for the gospel ministry, to be slaves to a mise- rable, artificial appetite. In reply to your first question, I would say, that I have witnessed most evident and hurtful effects of tobacco upon health. In one case, a USE OF TOBACCO. 127 young man was affected in his nervous system, became depressed, lost the activity of his mind, and was nearly insane, from the excessive use of tobacco. But as soon as he abandoned the use of it, he began to recover, and has been well and useful for many years. I have known cases of dreadful effects upon the head, and the nerves, from snuff-taking. A man is advised to use snuff for the benefit of his eyes, or to smoke for the benefit of his throat; and perhaps it may, for a short time, be a benefit to him. But if he fol- lows it, and forms a habit of using it, it is cer- tainly an injury. So a man may be benefitted by opium as a medicine ; but who does not know that the habitual use is pernicious. I have been acquainted with multitudes who have used tobacco ; but have seldom known a person who has used it freely, without manifest injury. My belief is, that it always tends to evil, and that in no instance is there any good resulting from it, which can be urged in favor of its habitual use. I am sometimes ashamed and astonished to see men of fine talents, and excellent characters, brought under the dominion of that hateful but bewitching weed. How contrary it is to the 128 RESPONSES ON THE precepts of the gospel, which require self-denial, and self-government, and the subjugation of the bodily appetites to reason and religion ! Question second. I have never been in the habit of using tobacco in any form. Once when I was young, and knew nothing of the danger, I was tempted by an old tobacco-chewer to use it; which I did freely and abundantly for a little while. In consequence I was suddenly sick and intoxicat- ed, and was taken up as dead, and continued sense- less, and to all appearance lifeless, for some time. The poison was as nearly fatal as it could be, con- sistently with remaining life. To the third question I can only answer in the negative. Question fourth. Whatever tends to a perma- nent injury of health, tends to shorten life. My opinion is, that even the moderate use of tobacco by healthy persons, has a bad tendency; and that if no sensible injury results from it, it is because he possesses a firmness of constitution which re- sists the bad influence so far, that its hurtful USE OF TOBACCO. 129 effects do not become visible, just as some men seem to be able to withstand the pernicious influ- ence of strong drink, or of opium, as long as they live. The poison which is fatal to others, is not fatal to them. But if certain men can live and enjoy health sixty or seventy years, under the influence of the habitual use of alcohol, or to- bacco, or opium, the same men would doubtless have better health, and live longer, and certainly better, if free from such habit. Permit me to say in conclusion, that one of the most powerful reasons which occur to me against the use of tobacco, is, the fearful and almost irre- sistible strength of the appetite, which the use begets. I have known excellent men, and ex- cellent ministers, who have been convinced of the bad influence of tobacco upon themselves, either bodily or mentally; and have resolved to give it up, and have tried to give it up, and tried repeatedly, but have found themselves, as they said, unable. They have bound themselves with a chain which they could not break. No man ought to submit to such servitude. I would ra- ther be a slave to a fellow-creature than to my- 130 RESPONSES ON THE self. I would rather be compelled to submit to the authority of an unreasonable master, than to submit voluntarily to be governed by an unrea- sonable and base passion. Yours with respect, Leonard Woods. USE OF TOBACCO. 131 XXII. LETTER FROM THOMAS W. BLATCHFORD, M.D. Troy, April 13, 1846. Rev. B. I. Lane. Dear Sir,—In answer to yours of the 2nd instant, I have only to say, that I have long viewed tobacco as very injurious to the human constitu- tion, and, for years, both by precept and example I have discountenanced its employment, except as a medicine. Commencing when a boy, I was for some years greatly addicted to its use. I smoked, chewed, and snuffed. My father was a great smoker, and I thought it manly thus to imi- tate him. When in college in 1811,1 was cured of chewing by a fellow student giving me tobacco with which he had purposely mingled tartar eme- tic. I was consequently made exceedingly sick for two or three days, but ever after I could not endure the taste of tobacco, and have ever since eschewed it. I continued to smoke, and occasion- ally to snuff, for several years. I found the prac- 12 132 RESPONSES ON THE tice, however, at times, very inconvenient; for I was frequently called away in haste on profes- sional business, immediately after meals, without affording me my usual time for smoking; and the want of it, the hankering after it, often dis- tressed me so much, not unfrequently even mak- ing me sick, that I often wished I could abandon the practice forever, but I did not then dream that such a thing could be accomplished. But there were other inconveniences attending this practice, which to me at least made it an up-hill business, a dearly bought pleasure. I frequently found myself in the company of those who were greatly incommoded by the smoke, and I occasionally met with some to whom it was decidedly injurious, since, if they breathed the confined smoky atmosphere for any length of time, it almost invariably produced either head- ache or vertigo ; and one of these instances oc- curred in my own family. Besides, I was often so circumstanced that there was within reach no convenient receptacle provided, where I could deposit the plentifully secreted saliva, which I was then compelled either to swallow, when I USE OF TOBACCO. 133 was invariably made sick, or to deposit it in my handkerchief. The material itself had become no small item, to say the least, of useless expen- diture ; and every little while some important duties had to be either suspended or neglected, until the pipe or cigar was finished. These and such like considerations, more than any manifestly injurious consequences to my own person, of which I was then sensible, led me often and anxiously to ask myself whether, after all, there was not some way in which I could break the habit without breaking my neck; espe- cially as it had never done me any good. I be- gan also, seriously to question whether I or any one could, with impunity, be in the constant em- ployment of so powerful an agent as tobacco, the mere want of which made me feel so bad ; and the seriousness of this question deepened, as I became more and more acquainted with the im- portant, the vital relation the brain and nervous system sustained to the other organs of the body, and the danger attending a wanton interference with any portion of the intricate frame-work of our constitution. 134 RESPONSES ON THE In this state of mind, I went one morning to my barn, (I then resided on Long Island,) to see how my hired man, who was engaged in thrashing oats, progressed with his work. To my surprise, I found him diligently using his flail, and at the same time, enveloped in clouds of smoke issuing from his lighted pipe. The floor was covered with straw. I reproved him in rather an angry tone, spoke of the danger of setting my barn on fire,* and of the sad consequences which would inevitably result. His reply was a severer rebuke to me, than my reproof was to him. I had my own pipe in my mouth, and I felt the inconsistency of my situation very keenly. He replied, " I wont set his barn on fire; master loves to smoke and so does Steve." After forbidding him ever again to smoke in the barn, and especially in the straw, *Note.—The great fire in this city in 1820, in which more than one hundred buildings were burned, and pro- perty to the amount of half a million of dollars was de- stroyed, I am informed, was kindled from a cigar in a barn. Two other fires recently occurring in this city, have been clearly traced as originating from smoking a pipe. Is it not probab'e that a vast many of the fires so constantly oc- curring originate in the same way ? USE OF TOBACCO. 135 I returned to the house, laid down my pipe, and from that day (1S22) to the present, I have never smoked either pipe or cigar. The trial, for a few days, was very severe. At times, I felt as if it was not possible for me to persevere. I, how- ever, was enabled to withstand the temptation, and the satisfaction of having overcome so bad a habit, rivetted as it had been by years of indul- gence, afforded a pleasure which has amply re- warded me for all the pain it cost me to accom- plish it. Since that period, I have given the subject re- peated examinations, and I have long been con- vinced that so powerful a narcotic, so active a poison as tobacco, cannot be habitually taken into the system without producing deleterious (though for a time perhaps imperceptible) consequences. Chewing, smoking, or snuffing, either and all are bad, and the only way of accounting for the fact, that disease and death do not oftener ensue from the practice, is, that the recuperative powers of nature ward off the blow. Few individuals are aware of the extent to which our constitutions are endowed with the power of resisting poisons, 12* 136 RESPONSES ON THE and repairing injuries. To this power doubtless, do the chewer, the smoker, and the snuffer, prin- cipally owe it that they are not all themselves the demonstration of its immediately poisonous influ- ence. That its employment tends to serious dis- ease of the brain, I can no more doubt than I can my existence. Its influence is so well understood by physicians generally, and I myself have so re- peatedly seen proofs of its poisoning power, that I cannot be mistaken. The case of Mr. Lyman, which you have already published in your first volume, I was conversant with. I was his phy- sician, and can vouch for the truth of what he has related ; but I doubt very much whether he himself had, or even yet has, any idea of the dreadful amount of derangement which the use of tobacco had produced, or his near approximation to perfectly formed apoplexy. Although he aban- doned its use just in time to save his life, still, I think he will never recover the degree of health he would have enjoyed had he never been made acquainted with that " poisonous weed, On which no beast but man will feed."* *Note.—The following fanciful description of the " illu- sory influence" of tobacco, was written in 1813, by a con- USE OF TOBACCO. 137 The case of Mr. Lyman, however, is only one of several which I could give you, showing con- vict in the New York State Prison, to whom I had given a cigar. I was then the " Resident Physician" of that insti- tution. MY CIGAR. When not a thought the mind amusing, Or scarce a thought that wastes in air, Thro' zig-zags of the brain diffusing Its mazy wanderings afar— 'Tis then I use lhat poisonous weed, On which no beast but man will feed, And puff with my cigar. And when the mantling bowl elating The spirits high, dispelling care, A thousand atoms, thoughts creating, Dancing like meteors through the air— Then 'tis I take extatic pleasure, To spread in fumes Virginia's treasure, And puff with my cigar. Now Fancy, in the smoke that's curling, Paints Phaeton in his headlong car : Dread Jove is seen his thunders hurling, Dealing out horrors, death and war; Another puff confounds the gods, Alarmed they seek their bright abodes: Such wonders rise from my cigar. J. B. R. 138 RESPONSES ON THE clusively that in certain constitutions, a tendency to apoplectic disease may be the almost inevita- ble result of the free, habitual use of tobacco. Mr. H----s lived about twelve years after an at- tack of apoplexy terminating in hemiplegia, and after two attempts at suicide, died from strangu- lation in a lunatic asylum. Mr. R-----d lived over a year after a similar attack, a helpless par- alytic. Mr. L-----e died of apoplexy after the fourth or fifth warning. Mr. L----m, Mr. W---d, Mr. B----1, Mr. B. R----d, Mr. M----r, Mr. B----y, Mr. H----d, Mr. J. H----d, Mr. S. H----s, Mr. T----K, Mr Mc----e, Mr. M----u, Mr. C----d, Mr. M-----n, all died apoplectic. In these cases, I was either the attending or consulting physician. All but two of them, were, I believe, strictly temperate in their habits as it regarded intoxicat- ing drinks, but all were either great chewers, or great smokers, or both. I do not say that tobac- co caused the apoplexy of which these men died. I only notice the two facts that they all died of apoplexy, and all made a free use of tobacco. Mr. B----d, aged thirty-three, six years since, suffered four attacks of apoplexy ; he was a USE OF TOBACCO. 139 great chewer, and he smoked occasionally. He quit tobacco, exchanged a sedentary for an active life, and now enjoys excellent health. From principle, therefore, founded, as I believe, on correct observation, I am the decided enemy of tobacco, except as a medicinal agent, and am a warm, unflinching advocate for a thorough tobacco teetotalism. I remain, dear Sir, Yours sincerely, Thomas W. Blatchford. Rev. B. I. Lane. 140 RESPONSES ON THE XXIII. The following is from a member of the American Society of Dental Surgeons. Troy, April 8, 1846. My Dear Sir : After premising that I have had no personal experience of the effects of that noxious plant, formed rather for the use of the tobacco-worm than that of man, I seize this moment hastily to reply to one of your questions which seems to be addressed to me as a professional man, viz : " Is the use of tobacco beneficial to the teeth?" It is my deliberate opinion, after thirteen years observation, that the teeth are never benefitted, but often injured by its use. The reason why many have supposed that tobacco preserves the teeth, I think to be this. The caries affecting teeth, is more of the nature of an acute disease, being altogether more rapid in the early years of childhood than subsequently, and from the greater USE OF TOBACCO. 141 delicacy of structure, and superior degree of sen- sibility, more liable to be accompanied with attacks of pain. When the body has nearly attained its growth, and for the most part, in after years, the diseases of the teeth assume more of a chronic character, the teeth becoming more solid and better able to resist those influences that induce and accelerate the progress of decay. It is about the time of this constitutional change, that most boys commence using tobacco ; and as it often succeeds in quieting and preventing the tooth- ache, and as in some cases, the decay is per- ceived to go on more slowly, a favorable opinion is formed of its use, and the inference is errone- ously drawn that it possesses antiseptic and pro- phylactic qualities. Hence it has often been re- commended as a preserver of the teeth. But many marked instances have been known of very rapid decay succeeding the use of tobacco, and it strikes me that a physiologist could not be at a loss to account for it, especially in those cases where great derangement of the functions of the digestive organs, a very common result of its use, had been caused by it. I am therefore free to declare that my opinion must undergo a remark- 142 RESPONSES ON THE able change before I can ever recommend tobac- co as a tooth and health preserver. Yours, respectfully, Horace H. Young. USE OF TOBACCO. 143 XXIV. LETTER FROM REV, HENRY WHITE, D.D. Professor of Systematic Theology, in the Union Theologi- cal Seminary, New York. New York, May 4, 1846. To Rev. B. I. Lane. Dear Brother,—In answer to your enquiries relative " to the effects of tobacco on the human system" there is much that I might say ;—drawn mostly, however, from personal experience, as my observation of its effects upon others has not been sufficiently particular to justify the formation of an opinion in many cases. I have no hesitation, however, from what I have seen, in saying that I believe fully that the " continued moderate use of tobacco impairs health, greatly diminishes comfort, and tends to shorten life. I consider it both a filthy and a noxious weed, unfit for the use of persons of cleanly habits, or who have a proper regard to the injunction, "do thyself no harm." 13 144 RESPONSES ON THE I was not addicted to the use of tobacco until after I was twenty years old. I fell into the practice during my course of study in college, as I believe very many do. Its immediate effects were from the first very great, producing nausea, vertigo, tremulousness, and sometimes profuse perspiration, and it was a long time before I could use it except with extreme caution, and avoid suf- fering. Its more gradual and permanent effects I can now see, began early to develop themselves in the form of indigestion and hepatic derange- ment. Being wholly unacquainted with these diseases, of course I did not take the alarm, but ascribed my sufferings to other causes, and permitted the habit to continue and grow upon me. I both chewed and smoked ; and I may say as a general thing, with a uniformly increasing velocity. For, though at times, in consequence of some imme- diate suffering from immoderate indulgence, the habit was checked, the return to it was with greater eagerness. I remember in one instance, when in the Theological Seminary, I resolved to use none for three months. I avoided it during USE OF TOBACCO. 145 that time, but the day on which the designated term ended, I had preparations all made, and sat holding my watch as the last hour expired, that I might indulge myself with a cigar. I was a slave to this evil habit but about six years, during which time my health was very much broken down—and it is now my firm con- viction that no other cause was so active in pro- ducing this effect as that of tobacco. I came to use it incessantly, except in sleep. It became necessary in the morning to prepare my appetite for breakfast—after meals to stimulate the powers of digestion—in hours of study to wake up the power of thought-—and even in the performance of public duties, as a stimulus to give steadiness to the nervous system. Under this course of treatment the impairment of my health pro- ceeded so rapidly that I was forced to come to some stand, and to seek medical advice. I was then told that an entire change in respect to this habit must take place, to give any fair prospect that my health could be restored, or my life long preserved. Here ends my fellowship with the base dm*. This was more than eighteen years 146 RESPONSES ON THE ago. I do not believe I should have lived through one year, if I had continued on to use it to the extent I then did. But by breaking off at once, totally, and forever, by the help of God I continue until this time ; and am ready to wit- ness both to small and great, saying none other things but those that from experience I know to be true, that the effects of tobacco on the human system, used habitually in any way, are evil, and only evil, and that continually. With much respect, And in haste, I am your Brother, Henry White. USE OF TOBACCO. 147 XXV. LETTER FROM N. S. S. BEMAN, D.D. --- Troy, N. Y., April 7, 1846. My Dear Sir : I have received your circular, and duly consi- dered the questions you have proposed ; and I shall now proceed to make such a reply as my knowledge and experience in these matters will enable me, and my numerous engagements per- mit. I was initiated into " The Mysteries of To- bacco" when a member of a grammar school, in the process of fitting for college. This was in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was fashionable among the students to chew or smoke ; and some- times they practised both. It would not do for a boy who thought himself almost, and wished to be quite a man, to be out of the fashion. My first experiment was with the pipe, and its effects were such that my expectations of climbing to eminence in that way, were well nigh prostrated for ever. But perseverance in the use, in time, 13* 148 RESPONSES ON THE accustomed the animal system to the poison. Soon after this, not far from the time I entered college, I formed the habit of chewing tobacco, indulging occasionally in smoking the pipe or cigars. But my habit was that of chewing rather than smoking. This habit I continued between twenty and twenty-one years, with the exception of one year during that period. While residing in the state of Georgia, where almost every body uses the narcotic weed, in some form, I was deeply convinced that tobacco was adding violence to a pulmonary complaint under which I was laboring; and I sat down one morning in the month of May or June, 1814, and wrote and placed in my pocket-book, the following resolution : " Resolved, that I will use no more tobacco, for one year." This stipula- tion was strictly kept, and the very day the time was out, I returned to my old habit with as fine a relish as ever. I attained just what I proposed. My object was, not to correct a pernicious prac- tice, but to refrain for one year. Purpose was the measure of attainment. USE OF TOBACCO. 149 At the time I laid aside the use of tobacco for a whole year, my pulmonary complaint was much worse than at any other period. My cough was distressing, my expectoration of a bad character, and my whole frame greatly attenuated with hectic fever. My friends generally, and physicians too, who had examined my case, thought my disease must prove fatal. During the whole of the Spring and Summer of 1S14, my health general- ly was more feeble and precarious, and my pros- pects of life darker, than at any other period. In the months of July and August, my own con- fidence, which had generally been strong in favor of a final recovery, was much shaken. Early in September I began to mend. My cough subsided, my appetite improved, my muscular strength gra- dually returned, and after a short excursion into the upper country, I felt myself decidedly on the gain. In the month of November I wrote, in full, a funeral-sermon, for a beloved brother in the min- istry who died at my house, on a visit from the low country ; and travelled eighty miles, and preached that discourse to his bereaved congregation. Till many years after these events, I never thought that the disuse of tobacco had any connection with the 150 RESPONSES ON THE restoration of my health. If-1 had, I should not have returned to the habit of chewing, at the ex- piration of the year. But I am fully persuaded now, that my temporary reformation was one of the means of saving my life. I shall never forget one fact, as illustrating the power of habit, and indeed the insidious influence of tobacco-chewing, on sedentary and studious men. While writing the sermon I have mentioned above, the fi/st I had attempted to prepare in this form, for one or two years, I detected myself in the act of feeling in my pockets, and even picking the lint from the corners, when my attention was arrested by the singular employment, and I soon discovered that I was searching for my tobacco, as a stimulus to the power of thought. I had, at this time, laid aside the use of it, for at least five months. Indeed I had ceased to care for it, or desire it. But when I applied my mind to the business of writing, an employment in which I had always used it more freely than at other times, I felt myself at a loss for a connected train of thought. A student's ideas may be in his pipe, or tobacco-box, or wine cup! These are bad de- USE OF TOBACCO. 151 positories for them. Mind is half mind, when its powers of action depend on any artificial stimulus. I continued the use of tobacco till the month of August, 1S23. The late Dr. Barritt remarked to me one day, that the irritation of the throat and lungs under which I was suffering, was increased by the use of tobacco.; and he advised me to lay it aside altogether. I assented to the correctness of the doctrine, but thought too little of the ad- vice to form any definite purpose on the subject. But soon after, on the morning of the 10th of August, 1823, while measuring out, from a paper of cut tobacco, the accustomed morsel, I thought of his remark, I thought of the injury it was work- ing to my health, of the degrading character of such an unnatural and unmanly habit, and I care- fully replaced the intended dose in the paper, and with a silent but full purpose never to use another particle of the miserable poison ! Two weeks of conflict and perseverance saw me a complete vic- tor over the pernicious habit. Nothing would now induce me to return to it. I consider it next, in point of importance, to a conquest achieved over the use of alcohol. I was never enslaved, in any 152 RESPONSES ON THE form, by the last named enemy, but I have been by the former. They too often go hand in hand in the work of human death. The effect of laying aside the use of this vile weed, has been, in all respects, the most pleasant and salutary. My natural taste for food, which had been rendered less acute than formerly, by the action of the poison upon the delicate tissues of nerves which cover the tongue and other parts of the mouth, soon returned ; my health became better in all respects ; my flesh increased, at least by scores of pounds; and my teeth have been, since that period, much less subject to pain and decay. I am fully convinced that the common excuses which are made for the use of tobacco, are all founded in error. It is a poison of such a char- acter, that it cannot be habitually used without doing violence to the human constitution. I would leave it with the physician, as I would other poisons, to be employed in the cure of dis- ease, if it is ever indicated for such a purpose. But I speak of men in health. In such a case, in my judgment, it never fails to do injury. From its very nature it cannot be used with im- USE Or TOBACCO. 153 punity. A man might just as well use any other poison, till his organic instincts are changed by habit. Smoking, chewing and snuffing all be- long to one category. Bad digestion, head-ache, nervous derangement, palpitation of the heart, and the decay and loss of teeth, are among the ordinary effects, and are almost as sure to follow the use, as the habit is to be formed and prac- ticed. I am not giving a dissertation on the sub- ject, but I am recording the result of my own observations. " We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen." I nave witnessed the most deplorable effects produced by the use of tobacco among students in college. It often proves fatal to health, and I believe, to life. At an early period, and under the influence of sedentary habits, the constitution often sinks under it. I should rejoice if its use, in every form, were prohibited in every college of our land. It is a vice which should be exter- minated, by the operation of law, from schools of learning. The hand of discipline should be applied with rigor to this evil. 154 RESPONSES ON THE I have known many cases of dyspepsia, evi- dently caused by smoking and chewing. Indeed this is a common and every day effect. Pulmo- nary complaints are often superinduced, and always aggravated by these habits. Having, for many years, suffered under the influence of such ' a disease, I have carefully watched its action in these cases; and I can positively assert that I have never known a cough of a critical character and of long standing, perfectly eradicated while the use of tobacco was continued in any of its forms. Such a thing may be, but with my ex- perience and observation, I am not prepared very readily to believe it. In the course of my ministry, I have known two cases, in my own congregation, of death, in which, I fully believe, the use of tobacco had much to do. One was the case of a lady who was an inveterate snuffer. Her disease was paralysis, somewhat gradual in its progress, sap- ping the foundations both of body and mind, and finally ending in death. It was the opinion of her physician, whose attention I directed to this point, that her disease originated in the use of USE OF TOBACCO. 155 snuff. For my own part, I had not the shadow of a doubt of this fact. The other was a fatal case of asthma, created, as I believe, and cer- tainly greatly accelerated in its progress, by the three-fold use of this poisonous article,—smoking, chewing, and snuffing. I examined these cases, for a long time and critically, before I made up my mind in relation to them. I know a man now in the prime of life, who is probably an in- curable paralytic, whose disease, in the opinion of his friends, was either caused, or greatly ag- gravated, by the excessive use of tobacco. But cases are endless. I wonder physicians keep silence a>s they do. The American com- munity is full of the victims of tobacco. It is hardly less fatal than its grand associate, rum. They are true work-fellows in poisoning the in- stincts, destroying the health, and degrading the nature of man. Tobacco, in every form, ought to be excluded from the Church, and banished from good society. I hope your labors will do much to hasten such a reformation. I confess, for one, that I am sick of seeing a smoking or tobacco-chewing, as I am, a wine-drinking minis- 14 156 RESPONSES ON THE ter of the gospel. I am utterly disgusted with those little boys, and fops who are endeavoring to take broad strides towards gentility and manhood, by distending their cheeks with tobacco, and puff- ing their cigars at the corners of all the streets. These are the forlorn hopes of the coming gene- ration. Save us from a race of tobacco-worms! Most respectfully yours, N. S. S. Beman. Rev. B. I. Lane. RESPONSES ) 7 ON THE USE OF TOBACCO. BY THE REV. BENJAMIN INGERSOL LANE, AUTHOR OF THE "MYSTERIES OF TOBAOC 0," ETC. NEW-YORK: ^1^1 WILEY AND PUTNAM, 161 BROAl 1846. WILEY & PUTNAM'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. NEW WORK, EDITED BY BULWER, Forming Nos. 50, 51 of the Library of Choice Reading. SKETCHES FROM LIFE, BY THE LATE LAMAN BLANCHARD. Edited, with a memoir of the author, by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., in two parts, 371 cents each. Contents.—Bulwer's memoir of the Author: A Quarrel with Old Ac- quaintances: Suggestion for the Celebration of Shakspeare's Birthday : Anony- mous: Quotations: £.s. d.: The Last Book, with a Dissertation on Last Things in general: Public Dinners : Content or not Content: Some Account of the Inconsolable Society: The Blunders of the Remarkably Skilful, with a lit- tle praise of the Press and a word on behalf of the World : Eccentricities of Affectation : Speech making after Dinner: Keeping Secrets: Advice Gra- tis : Etcetera (The Reminiscences of Mr. Fitzbeetle): April Fool's Day all the Year round : Faults on Both Sides: The Old Story : On Considering Oneself Horsewhipped: Confessions of a Keyhole: Just Going Out: My Christmas.Dinner: The Flower Stealers : a Fact: &c, &c. " The volumes prefaced by this slight memoir, deserve a place in every collection of Belles Lettres, and form most agreeable and characteristic illustrations of our manners and our age. They possess, what is seldom found in light reading, the charm that comes from bequeathing pleasurable impressions. They are suffused in the sweetness of the author's disposi- tion ; they shun all painful views of life, all acerbity in observation, all gall in their gentle sarcasm. Added to this, they contain not a thought, not a line, from which the most anxious parent would guard his child. They maybe read with safety by the most simple, and yet they contain enough of truth and character to interest the most reflective."—Bulwer's Memoir. " Two more volumes of the popular and excellently selected * Library of Choice Reading.' The contents are a variety of ostays, tales and other ma- gazine papers, the contributions for some years, ^English periodical litera- ture, of the late Laman Blanchard, whose unhappy end has recently called forth such a general, expression of regret and sympathy. They are prefac- ed by a biograpical memoir, written by Sir Edward Bulwer, from which Blanchard appears to have been a man of extremely loveable character, as well as brilliant in conversation and full of all genial qualities The papers are pleasant, many of them sparkling, and at times a vein of rich pathos is struck and wrought with felicitous power. But there is nothing in the writings of the man so touching and mournful as the story told by his bio- grapher, of the way in which the man himself was overwrought and done to death by the most spirit-wearing and destructive of all drudgery, the un- remitting toil of a daily writer for bread."—JV. Y. Courier. v< OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MED OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MED $r\ : Y OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEC 811 IVNOIIVN 3NIDIQ3W JO *«»H9I1 IVNOIIVN 3NI3I03W JO A« V II 8 I 1 1VN I >s NLM032885363