Part 2

We next come to its effects as an _emetic_. "As such," says Professor Chapman, "tobacco claims our attention. Cullen and many others opposed its use, on account of the harshness of its operation. Certainly it exceeds all others in the promptness, violence, and permanence of its impressions. But these very qualities, unpleasant as they are, enhance its value in many cases."

"Tobacco seems especially to be adapted to the evacuation of some poisons; and it has this advantage, that it acts with equal certainty and expedition, when applied to the region of the stomach in the form of a poultice, as when internally administered." Professor Barton says, he had recourse to an application of the moistened leaves of this plant to the region of the stomach, with complete success, to expel an inordinate quantity of laudanum, in a case where the most active emetics, in the largest doses, were resorted to in vain. But most poisons, particularly the corrosive, are attended with so much exhaustion, that it would seem perilous to administer tobacco, lest by its own depressing effects, the powers of vitality might be irrecoverably extinguished. In many instances, however, it appears that it may be administered in small doses with safety and advantage.

We are informed by a respectable writer, that while at the Cape of Good Hope, he had a number of Hottentots, with intermittent fever, under his care. Having few medicines, he resorted to tobacco, and found six grains of snuff as effectual in exciting vomiting, as two of Tartar emetic.

By many it is preferred in minute doses, as a nauseating medicine. Thus administered, it has succeeded in subduing some of the most violent symptoms of the most furious cases of mania; and where it cannot be given by the mouth, from the obstinacy of the patient, it may with equal benefit be applied in the form of a poultice.

As a _cathartic_, tobacco is entitled to notice. "Some physicians have been in the habit of prescribing this powerful substance not only for the more dangerous cases of incarcerated hernia, but in all cases of obstinate constipation, from whatever cause produced. To relieve these painful diseases, it has been usually given in the form of a clyster, regulating the dose to the age, circumstances, and strength of the patient; and it is affirmed to have proved, in many instances, very effectual, and to possess the confidence of practitioners."

I was informed by a learned and ingenious friend, that, having an obstinate case of ascaris lumbricoides in his own family, after repeated unsuccessful efforts to dislodge the worms, he at last had recourse to this potent remedy, a poultice of which he applied to the region of the stomach. The worms were almost instantaneously expelled, but with very alarming symptoms, and a complete prostration of the patient. From these circumstances, we should be led to conclude, that its efficacy as a vermifuge defends either upon its narcotic properties, or upon its sudden and powerful effect as a cathartic.

Its effects as a _sternutatory_, i. e. as exciting to sneeze, are known to all. If applied to the nostrils, in the form of a powder or snuff, it produces violent and repeated sneezing, with a slight degree of vertigo. The violent agitation produced in this way, together with a copious discharge from the nostrils, often relieves catarrh, headache, and incipient opthalmia or inflammation of the eyes. But habit soon blunts the sensibility of the organs, and much positive injury follows the habitual use of snuff. It has been a popular remedy in many places for the cure of scald-head, psora, and most other cutaneous eruptions. It has also been applied for cleansing ulcers, and for the removal of indolent tumors. But the dreadful effects produced by it when absorbed into the system, have induced most medical men to abandon it altogether, and prescribe a more safe application.

Though it is said, by Dr. Brailsford, to be a _sudorific_ of considerable efficacy, I am in possession of no facts which go to support such a conclusion, unless indeed it be the fact, that it in an eminent degree brings on that cold perspiration of which we have spoken, and which is, in many instances, the immediate precursor of death.

But of all others, its _diuretic_ properties have been the most lauded. Dr. Fowler was the first to bring them extensively into notice. In dropsy, dysury, gravel, and nephritis calculosa or inflammation of the kidneys, the infusion and tincture were given by him with astonishing success. In spasmodic asthma, the same distinguished physician found it to afford relief.

Mr. Earle, a surgeon of some eminence, has more recently treated several inveterate cases of retention of urine on the same plan and with similar effects, and adds his testimony to its efficacy in tetanus, trismus, and other spasmodic affections. Of its power to relieve spasm there can be no doubt. What has been related of its sedative qualities, is abundantly sufficient to establish that fact. Cramps, convulsions, and even the vital principle itself, give way before the exhibition of this deadly narcotic. Hence, to its power of prostrating the muscular energy, it owes its efficacy in preventing retention of urine.

We have now gone through with an examination of the medicinal properties of tobacco, and have arrived at the following conclusion, viz. that few substances are capable of exerting effects so sudden and destructive, as this poisonous plant. Prick the skin of mouse with a needle, the point of which has been dipped in its essential oil, and immediately it swells and dies. Introduce a piece of common "twist," as large as a kidney bean, into the mouth of a robust man, unaccustomed to this weed, and soon he is affected with fainting, vertigo, nausea, vomiting, and loss of vision. At length the surface becomes deadly pale, the cold sweat gathers thick upon his brow, the pulse flutters or ceases to beat, a universal tremor comes on, with slight spasms and _other_ symptoms of dissolution. As an emetic, few articles can compare with it for the promptness and efficiency of its operation; at the same time there are none which produce such universal debility. As a cathartic, it produces immediate and copious evacuations, with great prostration of strength; but its dose can with difficulty be regulated.

If such be a fair statement of its effects on the human system; if it requires all the skill of the most experienced practitioner to guard against those sudden depressions which uniformly follow its use, when administered with the utmost circumspection; and if, with all this caution, its operation is still followed by the most alarming, and even fatal consequences--what shall we say of those who habitually subject their constitutions to the destructive influence of this worse than "Bohan Upas?"

To an individual unacquainted with the fact, it would seem incredible that a weed, possessed of properties so poisonous, should ever have been sought as an article of luxury. Yet it has not only been sought, but even credulity startles at the extent to which it has been used. "Like opium, it calms the agitations of our corporeal frame, and soothes the anxieties and distresses of the mind." Its powers are felt and its fascinations acknowledged, by all the intermediate grades of society, from the sot who wallows in the mire of your streets, to the clergyman who stands forth a pattern of moral excellence, and who ministers at the altar of God. For it the Arab will traverse, unwearied, his burning deserts; and the Icelander risk his life amidst perpetual snows. Its charms are experienced alike, by the savage who roams the wilds of an American forest, and the courtier who rolls in luxury and prescribes rules of refinement to the civilized world; by the miscreant who wrings from the cold hand of charity the pittance that sustains his life, and the monarch who sways his sceptre over half the globe; by him who is bent with woes and years, and him whose cheek is covered yet with boyhood's down. Hence we might conclude it capable of giving strength to the weary, vivacity to the stupid, and wisdom to men void of understanding; capable of soothing the sorrows of the afflicted, of healing the wounds of the spirit, and assuaging the anguish of a broken heart. But how it fulfils these desirable indications, will be our next business to inquire.

Tobacco, as a luxury, has been used for the two last centuries over all the civilized, and the greater portion of the uncivilized world. The modes have been _snuffing_, _smoking_, and _chewing_. Its effects, when habitually used in each of these modes, will now be examined. As far as my observations extend, few, if any, of all the devotees to this stupefying substance, ever resort to its use without some supposed necessity; and often, alas _too often_, by the advice of physicians.

The benefit to be derived from the exhibition of a medicine in the cure of disease, should not alone induce us to prescribe it, without due regard to the injury which may result to the constitution. Had this rule been observed relative to the subject under consideration, I apprehend the use of this baneful drug would have been less extensive.

Snuff has been prescribed for a variety of complaints, among which are headache, catarrh, and some species of opthalmia, and no doubt sometimes with very good effect; as I have, in a very few instances, witnessed. But the fact seems to have been overlooked, that its only power to relieve these complaints arises from the copious discharge of mucus from the nostrils, during the violent paroxysm of sneezing which invariably attends its first application; and that its salutary influence ceases, whenever these peculiar effects cease to accompany its exhibition. Hence in all cases where it is continued an indefinite time, or until the schneiderian membrane loses its sensibility, it not only fails of its medicinal effect, but actually becomes pernicious; aggravating the very disease it was intended to cure. It not only does this, but goes on committing great ravages on the whole nervous system, superinducing hypocondria, tremors, and premature decay of all the intellectual powers. A thickening of the voice, is also the unavoidable result of habitual snuff-taking. This disagreeable consequence is produced, either by partially filling up the nasal avenues, or by destroying the sensibility of the parts. Be that as it may, we would say of the change, in the forcible language of Cowper: "O! it is fulsome, and offends me more than the nasal twang, heard at conventicle from the pent nostril, spectacle bestrid."

It also occasions loss of appetite, frequent sickness at the stomach, with many other disagreeable symptoms. A case in point, is related by Dr. Cullen, of a woman who had been in the habit for twenty years. At length she found on taking a pinch before dinner, she had no appetite. This having frequently occurred, she was induced to postpone her pinch till after dinner, when she ate her meal with her accustomed relish, and went on snuff-taking in the afternoon without inconvenience.

Another instance is related by the same author, of the injurious effects of this habit. A lady, who had been accustomed to take snuff freely, was seized with a severe pain in her stomach, which continued unabated notwithstanding many remedies were applied; until accidentally her snuff was omitted for a few days, when the pain was found to subside, and did not return until she again had recourse to her snuff. Then, to her utter astonishment, it immediately came with all its former severity, and would yield to no treatment without a relinquishment of the snuff-box, which (strange to tell) the woman laid aside, and recovered her health.

Most persons in the constant habit of taking snuff, are led on insensibly, until they consume enormous quantities. But as they are accustomed both to its stimulant and narcotic effects, they are not aware of the pernicious consequences. In the midst of interesting conversation, they frequently transcend the bounds assigned them by habit, and the consequence is, sickness, faintness, and trembling, with some vertigo and confusion of head. During this paroxysm of snuffing, particles of the powdered tobacco are carried back into the fauces, and thence into the stomach; which occasions not only sickness at the time, but is long after followed with dyspepsia and other symptoms of disordered abdominal viscera.

The second mode of habitually using this drug, is _smoking_. This, too, has been prescribed by reputable members of the faculty. And for what purpose has this disgusting practice been recommended? "For weakness of the stomach," to be sure. Persons who have a craving appetite, and consume more food, particularly at dinner, than their stomach will readily digest, experience considerable uneasiness for some time after eating. The mouth and fauces sympathize with the overloaded organ, and an increased quantity of fluid is poured from the mucous follicles and salivary glands, to aid in the process of digestion. Under these accumulating difficulties, the man calls on the "_Doctor_," who very wisely imagines these symptoms are sufficient evidence that he has a "weak and watery stomach," and the pipe and cigar are recommended to carry off the superabundant humors, which still are unable to assimilate the enormous load with which, from time to time, the stomach is crowded. But as the application of the burnt oil of tobacco to the mouth and fauces, from its stimulant and narcotic qualities, benumbs the senses and renders the individual less conscious of his distress, he takes it for granted that he is materially relieved, and knows not, poor man, that it is all delusion. Thus, instead of taking the only rational method, that of adapting the quantity of food to the powers of digestion, he pursues a course which continues to weaken the organs of digestion and assimilation, and at length plunges him into all the accumulated horrors of dyspepsia, with a complete prostration of the nervous system.

But it has been said, that smoking will cure the tooth-ache; and we should have recourse to any means for the removal of so painful a disease. That it will, as a powerful sedative, lessen the pain, and sometimes even altogether remove tooth-ache, is probably true; but why continue the practice after the occasion has ceased? Opium and calomel, judiciously administered, will relieve _cholera morbus_; but whoever thought of making them an article of diet, because from their application he had experienced relief in that dangerous complaint? Or whoever dreamed of using them constantly, lest he might again be attacked with it? Would not prudence dictate to lay them aside, that they might not lose their influence on the system, and consequently their medicinal virtues?

But smoking sometimes diminishes the secretions of the mouth, producing dryness and thirst, instead of moisture; still it is used with the same perseverance as in the former case, and to obviate the same difficulty, an overburdened stomach. And such is the united influence of its stimulant and narcotic qualities, that the _thirst it occasions is not to be allayed by ordinary drinks, but wine, ale, and brandy must be taken, to satisfy this unnatural demand_. Hence, smoking has, in many instances, been the sad precursor to the whiskey-jug and brandy-bottle, which together have plunged their unfortunate victims into the lowest depths of wretchedness and woe.

I am well acquainted with a man in a neighboring county, whose intellectual endowments would do honor to any station, and who has accumulated a handsome estate; but whose habits, of late, give unerring premonition to his friends of a mournful result. This man informed me that it was the fatal thirst occasioned by smoking his cigar, in fashionable society, that had brought him into his present wretched and miserable condition. Without any desire for ardent spirit, he first sipped a little gin and water, to allay the disagreeable sensations brought on by smoking, as water was altogether too insipid to answer the purpose. Thus he went on from year to year, increasing his stimulus from one degree to another, until he lost all control over himself; and now he stands as a beacon, warning others to avoid the same road to destruction.

Smoking has been prescribed for spasmodic asthma, and undoubtedly with some success; and the manner in which it affords relief in this distressing disease has been pointed out, when speaking of the narcotic and antispasmodic effects of this drug. But suppose it capable of relieving the paroxysm, when administered to a person unaccustomed to its deadly stimulus, it will by no means be followed by the same happy effect, when once its use becomes habitual.

But smoking has been the grand resort to secure the system from the influence of contagion; and perhaps no power ascribed to it, has ever been so universally acknowledged. But upon what series of experiments are these pretensions founded? From all the attention which I have bestowed on this investigation, I have been unable to discover any evidence of its utility in this respect, except what arose from the prejudices of the ignorant, or the obstinacy of those who are slaves to the practice of it. The bare assertion of Deimerbroek, "that it kept off the plague," without a single corroborative fact, would hardly be sufficient authority on which to establish a conclusion so important; especially when we have the united experience of Rivernus, Chemot, and Cullen, to prove the opposite of this position. Hence we conclude, that its properties in keeping off contagion, depend on its sedative powers, which it possesses in common with other narcotics, wine, brandy, and opium. As these lessen sensibility, and sometimes allay anxiety of the mind, it is not impossible that in a very few instances they may have prevented the exciting causes of disease from taking effect. But what are these few, when compared with the multitudes whose nervous systems have been destroyed by this pernicious habit, and thus exposed to all the horrors of malignant disease.

Smoking also assuages the _tedium_ of life. Here is the grand secret. Man fears to be alone; and when left to his own solitary reflections, he dreads the result of self-examination. He flies for relief to his pipe, his cigar, his quid, or his bottle, with the vain hope of escaping from himself. To accomplish an object so desirable, he hesitates not to _stupify_ those noble faculties which he cannot hope to extinguish, and with which he has been endowed by the God of nature, for wise and benevolent purposes. And will you, gentlemen, by precept and example, longer sanction _such_ a course of conduct,--conduct so degrading to us as intelligent beings, and as conservators of the public health?

The third mode of habitually using tobacco, is _chewing_. In this manner all its deadly powers are speedily manifest, in the commencement of the practice, as has been already shown. In this mode, too, its nauseous taste and stimulant property excite and keep up a profuse discharge from the mucous follicles and salivary glands. Probably to this circumstance alone, is owing the superior efficacy of this mode of using this drug in the cure of tooth-ache. But whether this enormous waste of the secretions of the mouth and fauces can be borne by the constitution with impunity, you, Gentlemen, are abundantly competent to judge. Physiologists agree that these secretions are intended to assist in preparing the aliments for deglutition, by rendering them sufficiently fluid, and afterwards, by their peculiar properties, to promote digestion and assimilation. The great increase of these just before and after eating, and the large quantities swallowed about that time, are unequivocal evidence of their importance to the digestive economy. Then what must be the state of that man's digestion, who, until seated at table, keeps his quid in his mouth, and immediately returns it thither, after rising from his meal? And when we reflect, that large quantities of saliva strongly impregnated with this poison, and even particles of the substance itself, are frequently swallowed, what, again I ask, is the probable condition of such a person's digestive organs?

I know it may be said in reply, that such persons often consume large quantities of food, without experiencing any perceptible inconvenience; and I also know that they are often emaciated, notwithstanding the enormous portion of aliment they daily consume. Under these circumstances the emaciation arises, either from the profuse discharge of saliva, or an imperfect digestion, or the combined influence of both. Hence, when a man of a corpulent habit, with a keen appetite, who is unwilling to forego his wine and to use moderation in his roast beef, applies for professional advice to prevent corpulence, medical men very naturally and philosophically direct him, if he persists in his excess, to the use of tobacco, as a temporary relief, against the direful effects of his gluttony and intemperance.

A clergyman of high standing informed me, that he acquired the habit of using tobacco in college, and had continued the practice for a number of years; but he found, by experience, his health materially impaired, being often affected with sickness, lassitude, and faintness. His muscles also became flabby and lost their tone, and his speaking was seriously interrupted by an elongation of the uvula. His brother, an intelligent physician, advised the discontinuance of his tobacco. He laid it aside. Nature, freed from its depressing influence, soon gave signs of returning vigor. His stomach resumed its wonted tone, his muscles acquired their former elasticity, and his speaking was no more annoyed by a relaxation of them.

A respectable man of my acquaintance, about forty years of age, who commenced chewing tobacco at the age of eighteen, was for a long time annoyed by depression of spirits, which increased until it became a settled melancholy, with great emaciation, and the usual symptoms of that miserable disease. All attempts to relieve him proved unavailing, until he was persuaded to dispense with his quid. Immediately his spirits revived, his countenance lost its dejection, his flesh increased, and he soon regained his health. Another man, who used tobacco very sparingly, became affected with loss of appetite, sickness at stomach, emaciation, and melancholy. From a conviction that even the small quantity he chewed was the source of his trouble, he entirely left it off, and very soon recovered.

I was once acquainted with a learned, respectable, and intelligent physician, who informed me, that from his youth he had been accustomed to the use of this baneful plant, both by smoking and chewing. At length, after using it very freely while indisposed, he was suddenly seized with an alarming vertigo, which, without doubt, was the result of this destructive habit. This afflicting complaint was preceded by the usual symptoms which accompany a disordered stomach, and a relaxation of nerves, with which, Gentlemen, you are too familiar to need a description here. After the application of a variety of remedies to little or no purpose, he quit the deleterious practice, and though his vertigo continued long and obstinate, he has nearly or quite recovered his former health. And he has never doubted but that the use of tobacco was the cause of all his suffering in this disagreeable disease. Many more cases might be cited, but sufficient has been said to establish the doctrine here laid down.[C]