A Dissertation on the Medical Properties and Injurious Effects of the Habitual Use of Tobacco Part 2

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 a.s.sertion 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 mult.i.tudes whose nervous systems have been destroyed by this pernicious habit, and thus exposed to all the horrors of malignant disease.

Smoking also a.s.suages 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 n.o.ble faculties which he cannot hope to extinguish, and with which he has been endowed by the G.o.d 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 circ.u.mstance 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 const.i.tution with impunity, you, Gentlemen, are abundantly competent to judge.

Physiologists agree that these secretions are intended to a.s.sist in preparing the aliments for deglut.i.tion, by rendering them sufficiently fluid, and afterwards, by their peculiar properties, to promote digestion and a.s.similation. The great increase of these just before and after eating, and the large quant.i.ties 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 quant.i.ties 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 quant.i.ties 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 circ.u.mstances 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 appet.i.te, 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, la.s.situde, 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 appet.i.te, sickness at stomach, emaciation, and melancholy. From a conviction that even the small quant.i.ty 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]

[Footnote C: And here I am happy in having permission to give the opinion of one of the ablest physicians in Ma.s.sachusetts, as to the use of tobacco. "The chewing of tobacco," says he, "is not necessary or useful _in any case that I know of_: and I have abundant evidence to satisfy me that its use may be discontinued without pernicious consequences. The common belief, that it is beneficial to the teeth, is, I apprehend, entirely erroneous. On the contrary, by poisoning and relaxing the vessels of the gums, it may impair the healthy condition of the vessels belonging to the membranes of the socket, with the condition of which, the state of the tooth is closely connected."]

Having gone through with an examination of the _physical_ influence of tobacco, let us now, for a few moments, attend to its _political_ and _moral_ influence.

1. _It is a costly practice._ The whole adult population in the United States is estimated at six millions, one half of which are males.

Allowing but one half of these to use tobacco in some form, we shall have one and a half millions to be taxed with this consumption. If we take into the account all who are in its use before they arrive at the period of adult age, it would swell the amount to two millions. Lest we should be accused of exaggeration, we will estimate the whole number of devotees at one million, who pay their daily homage at the shrine of this stupifying idol. The expense to the consumers of this drug varies, according to the quant.i.ty and mode of using. Those who are in the habit of smoking freely, and use none but the best Spanish cigars, pay a tax, I am informed by good judges, of not less than fifty dollars a year.

While the moderate consumer of Scotch snuff pays from one to two dollars. Somewhere between these wide extremes, may be found the fair estimate of an average cost. If one fifth of the whole number of consumers should pay the highest estimate, it would amount to ten millions annually. Then if three-fifths pay but ten dollars apiece, it will amount to six millions; and if the remaining one-fifth pay but one dollar each, we shall have two hundred thousand dollars more. These added together will make an aggregate of _sixteen millions two hundred thousand dollars_. In this estimate nothing has been said of another cla.s.s of consumers, which delicacy forbids me to mention, (and I hope I shall receive their forgiveness for my neglect;) nor of the time wasted in procuring and devouring this precious morsel. But lest even this very moderate calculation should be considered extravagant, which is by many competent judges believed to be far too low, we will reckon the consumers at one million, and the average cost at ten dollars each a year, for the whole; and then we have _the enormous tax of three millions of dollars_, to be annually paid in these United States for the useless consumption of this loathsome drug.

2. _This practice paves the way to drunkenness._ A few reasons have already been given, why _smoking_ tends strongly to favor the introduction of ardent spirits. The dryness of mouth induced in some, is not the only case where a thirst for strong drink is produced. The great waste of saliva, occasioned both by smoking and chewing, has the same dangerous tendency. The fact that few of all the consumers of this plant are fond of those simple beverages so grateful to the unvitiated taste, and that most are inordinately attached to ale, wine, and brandy, is sufficient evidence of the dreadful truth, that it is the faithful pioneer to intemperance. What though there are some few and honorable exceptions; and what though there are _many_, who for a long time have used the poisonous plant, and have escaped the yawning gulf; still, a sufficient number have been swallowed up, to warrant the general conclusion. The few specifications already made above, might easily be increased a hundred fold.

Though every lover of tobacco is not a slave to rum, yet _almost every drunkard is a slave to tobacco_; and this is indirect evidence that the habits are in a manner a.s.sociated, or have a sort of natural affinity.

If such be its tendency, what moral responsibility rests upon the man who shall recommend it, either by professional advice, or by his own example! What an infinitude of moral evil _must_ follow in its train, if drunkenness be its legitimate effect! What woes, what sorrows, what wounds without cause, may spring into existence at your bidding, when you prescribe the habitual use of this baneful plant! By such a prescription you incautiously open a fountain from which may issue streams, disturbing the peace of private families, pouring the waters of contention into peaceful and harmonious neighborhoods, embittering every condition of life, and poisoning every department of human society.[D]

[Footnote D: An eminent writer in favor of Temperance, has given it as his opinion, that at least one tenth of all the drunkards were made such by the use of Tobacco.]

3. _It is an indecent practice._ To say nothing of the disagreeable contortions of countenance a.s.sumed by the great variety of snuffers, smokers, and chewers; to say nothing of the pollution, inseparable from these habits, to the mouth, breath, and apparel, to the house and its furniture, (all which are too familiar to require description;) I ask, where is the man making any pretensions to refinement, who would not blush to offend the delicate sensibilities of the _fair_, by smoking his pipe or cigar in their presence? True politeness would seem to require, moreover, that even the feelings of _gentlemen_ should be respected. But all sense of propriety seems to have fled before the indulgence of this foolish habit. To such an extent has it obtained, that we meet it in the kitchen, in the dining-room, and in the parlor; in every gathering of men of business; in every party of pleasure; in our halls of legislation; in our courts of justice; and even the sanctuary of G.o.d is sometimes polluted by this loathsome practice. It is impossible to walk the street without being constantly a.s.sailed by this noxious vapor, as it is breathed from the mouths of all cla.s.ses in community, from the sooty chimney-sweep, to the parson in his sacerdotal robe. You can scarcely meet a man in the street, with whom you have business, but he pours a stream of smoke into your face, exceedingly disgusting. And this he does too, without imagining that he transgresses the rules of politeness, or gives you any cause of offence.

In these habits we resemble the _Aborigines_ of our country. They load their huge pipes with the dried leaves of this plant, and when lighted, they breathe the dark cloud of smoke from their mouth and nostrils, and as it curls around their head, ascending towards heaven, they present it as an offering to appease the anger of the Great Spirit. A mutual influence has resulted from our intercourse with the Indian. We have taught him how to debase himself below the brute, and destroy the quiet of savage life by the use of our _whiskey_; and he, in return, has taught us to destroy our const.i.tutions, and interrupt the harmony of civilized society, by the habitual use of his deadly narcotic.[E]

[Footnote E: The counsel given by the Journal of Health, is, therefore, in perfect accordance with the principles of medical philosophy. "Our advice is, to desist, immediately and entirely, from the use of tobacco in every form, and in any quant.i.ty, however small."--"A reform of this, like of all evil habits, whether of smoking, chewing, drinking, and other vicious indulgences, to be efficacious, must be _entire, and complete_, from the very moment when the person is convinced, either by his fears or his reason, of its pernicious tendency and operation."]

Gentlemen, I have done. The subject, with a slight examination, is before you. I have plainly and fearlessly expressed my opinion, without intending to wound the feelings of a single individual. If your sentiments correspond with mine, you will a.s.sist in bringing this odious practice to the bar of public opinion. There let it be subjected to a severe, but dispa.s.sionate trial; and if on a cool and deliberate investigation, its pernicious tendency shall fully appear, then let the American people rise up, and with united voice p.r.o.nounce its sentence of final condemnation.

APPENDIX,

CONTAINING AN ANSWER TO SEVERAL QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE USE OF TOBACCO.

"But," says the lover of tobacco, "how can it be so deleterious when mult.i.tudes, who apparently enjoy good health, use it daily?"

In this objection two things are a.s.sumed, viz.

1. The existence of a perfect standard of health.

2. That this standard is not depreciated by the habitual use of tobacco.

If we examine these positions in the light of truth, we shall find them both defective.

"The varieties in point of health," says an eminent physiologist, "are numerous and considerable. There is, indeed, a certain state of health, which may be said to be peculiar to each individual. Such persons as we suppose to be in the enjoyment of the most perfect health, differ surprisingly, not only from each other, but from their own condition at other times, as well in consequence of a difference in the const.i.tution of the blood, as a diversity of tone and other vital energies." One state may be said to be healthy compared with another; and the same may be affirmed of persons. One may enjoy health when compared with an invalid. In all these cases it will be seen that health is only comparative. But to sustain this part of the objection it would be necessary to prove, what I presume will not be attempted, "that the thousands who daily use tobacco, are enjoying the maximum of health and strength;" i. e. that every function of the system is performed to absolute perfection. For if it be admitted that any function is deranged, it would be difficult, I apprehend, to prove, that that derangement was not occasioned by the use of tobacco.

That men accustomed to hard labor will endure more fatigue, than those of sedentary or enervated habits, needs no argument to prove. That the arm of the blacksmith acquires strength beyond the arm of the literary recluse, is altogether obvious.

The laborer will consume more food; consequently his frame will acquire a proportionate degree of strength, and, all other things being equal, it will be able to resist the influence of extraneous causes, to a much greater extent than that of the voluptuary.

Let now the blacksmith use tobacco, and although there may be no perceptible diminution of vigor, (since you have no perfect standard to try it by,) because he still exceeds in strength persons possessing const.i.tutions naturally less vigorous, or const.i.tutions less hardened by toil; yet, whether the same hardy son of Vulcan can endure more hards.h.i.+p, while using tobacco, than he could have done had he never used the baneful plant, is the question?

That many persons apparently enjoy good health, and yet use tobacco, cannot be denied. And the same may be affirmed with equal propriety of opium and alcohol. I once knew a man who, from his youth till he had reached his sixty-ninth year, became intoxicated, whenever he could procure sufficient liquor to produce this effect; and during that time he was never so ill as to require medical advice. I have known others to be literally steeped in ardent spirit, who were seldom sick; and yet few, I apprehend, will affirm, that alcohol used to such excess is not injurious.

The Turks, who, for aught to the contrary that appears in their history, enjoy as good health as the people of the United States, and are said to attain a longevity as great, use opium for the purpose of intoxication, much in the same manner in which the latter employ alcohol and wine, these being forbidden to the former by their creed. Yet, after all, the man who could adduce these facts to prove the harmlessness of the substances under consideration, must be dest.i.tute of that physiological knowledge which is necessary to understand the natural operations of the human system.

There is a principle in the animal economy, which powerfully resists morbid impressions, and tends to expel whatever is noxious. This principle, called by some "the medical power of nature," is roused to action by the application of an offending agent to any part of the human system. On the first intimation of the a.s.sault, this vigilant sentinel rallies her forces, and flies to the point of attack.

If she succeed in expelling the invader before any serious mischief has been done, the system again reposes in quiet; but if not, a more general tumult arises, and the a.s.sistance of art is often required to second her ineffectual efforts. These phenomena are exhibited in the first use of tobacco, in all its forms.

Apply snuff to the nostrils of one unaccustomed to it; and a violent sneezing, with a copious secretion of mucus will follow. Put tobacco into the mouth and it immediately produces a profuse discharge of saliva; and if this proves unsuccessful in expelling the unwelcome intruder, severe nausea and vomiting ensue. Smoking also produces similar effects. Apply the moistened leaves of tobacco to any part of the surface of the body, and its deadly effects are soon perceived in an entire prostration of strength, accompanied with ghastly paleness and vomiting.

If it were not in a high degree poisonous, no such results would follow its first application to the living fibre; for they do not follow the first application of those substances which were, by our wise and bountiful Creator, designed for the _use_ of man.

Though the effects above described are less violent, when the nerves (the media through which it operates) become accustomed to the stimulus of the noxious substance; yet it by no means proves, even in these circ.u.mstances, that it does no injury to the system, any more than the fact that some men drink a quart of proof spirit daily without producing death, proves that that amount does them no harm, when half the quant.i.ty taken by a beginner would prove fatal.

In the course of twelve years' observation on the effects of narcotics upon the human system, I became acquainted with a delicate female, who, for thirty years, had taken a sufficient quant.i.ty of opium daily to kill the hardiest son of New-England, provided he had been unaccustomed to its pernicious influence. She, nevertheless, lived to an advanced age, and was eighty-four years old when I last saw her, though she, at that time, took every day two scruples of solid opium.

I had the unpleasant task to attend this lady in a fit of sickness. And with the exception of a few cases, in which similar results have followed the excessive use of alcohol, it was, without exaggeration, the most troublesome case that has ever fallen under my care.

All the frightful symptoms of _delirium tremens_ waited around and haunted her imagination through the day; while shrieks, and groans, and all the signs of woe attended her nightly couch, to add a gloomy horror to her unrefres.h.i.+ng and broken slumbers. And so far as my observations extend, the most inveterate derangements of the nervous system are either produced or aggravated by the habitual use of narcotics.

The inherent power of the const.i.tution to sustain itself amid the ever-varying changes to which it is exposed, has been learned by common observation, as well by the peasant as by the man of erudition. The fact, that man, "made of one blood, can dwell" in all the varieties of climate, "on the face of the whole earth," and can sustain himself, without any change of organization, at one period on the burning sands of a Numidian desert, at another among the ice-bergs of a Greenland winter--exhibits in the most convincing light the extent of this wonderful power.

A curious field of speculation, on this sanative power in the physical const.i.tution of man, lies open to out view, had we time to pursue it, in contemplating the habits, customs, and manners of the North American Indian. Guided by the simple dictates of nature, he gratifies his appet.i.te with such food as comes most readily within his reach, and slakes his thirst at the first mountain brook. Sometimes, for days, he lies sleeping in his smoky wigwam without the means of appeasing hunger; then rises and follows his game with the fierceness of a tiger, until the object of his pursuit is overtaken; after which, with the voracity of a dog, he loads his stomach with food sufficient to satisfy the cravings of nature, for as many days as he had previously fasted, and again betakes himself to sleep and inactivity. With all this irregularity, he is a total stranger to lingering complaints, and to that numerous as well as fas.h.i.+onable cla.s.s of diseases denominated "Nervous." That formidable ailment, _Dyspepsia_, which, like a fiend, has, for the last few years pervaded the whole land, is unknown to the Indian; having its origin in the abuses introduced by civilization and refinement. But to return:

Suppose, for the sake of argument, that a man who daily uses tobacco, enjoys equal health with one who uses none, and is no more liable to disease; let him once be attacked by disease, and then it will be far more difficult to remove it, than to do so in one free from such habit.

This will appear from the following considerations:

Remedial agents ordinarily act on the system, by exciting the living power through the medium of the nerves; hence when these have long been deadened by the habitual use of any narcotic, common sense, aside from the lights of science and philosophy, would teach us the difficulty of making an impression on a system whose nerves had thus been previously paralyzed.

Perhaps the man, who daily drinks ardent spirit, may, from the greater insensibility of his system, in some cases escape sickness as long as the most temperate, (though this is by no means a common fact); yet, let disease once commence, and then we learn, by painful experience, the disadvantage of having broken down the nervous system by needless and vicious excess.

Tobacco is acknowledged to be one of the most deadly of the vegetable narcotics: yet experience proves that the nerves, by habit, become so accustomed to its stimulus, that it in a great measure loses its power.

How then can we hope with ordinary remedies to make an impression, when even this powerful agent has itself lost its proper and natural effect?