2. These observations suggest a reference to the question, how far tobacco was intended for the use of man? The practice of the Cuban savages is seized by one party as a proof of a final cause, insomuch as savages are supposed to follow the first dictates of nature; and then comes the other party, who point to the tardy adoption of nature's gift by a civilized people as a clear proof that the weed was not intended for the uses to which it is applied. I believe that it is utterly vain to discuss questions of this kind. We have no elements for a proper judgment. Perhaps, for aught we know, the American savages were some thousands of years in coming to the habit—at least we have no reason to suppose that it could be a very primitive adoption. Whether, indeed, man's custom, in most cases, is a proof of itself of nature's intention, must always be a puzzle; but as we know that many very bad things are greatly more natural to human beings than we would wish them to be, we have just as good a right to say for those to whom good tendencies are delightful from the beginning, that nature intended they should do their best to eradicate what is hurtful, and reclaim their fellowcreatures from the indulgences of vice. The true practical question must in short always be, what is beneficial and what is hurtful, according to the results of our experience.

3. The botany of our subject presents us with seven or eight different species of the plant, all affecting, more or less, the warm latitudes. Virginia seems, of all regions, the best suited to its culture, and yields in great quantity the common or Virginian tobacco (Nicotiana

tabacum). A more hardy kind (N. rustica,) may bo cultivated in such latitudes as that of Scotland. This is the species which has been found in Europe, Asia, and Africa; and were it not for the restriction imposed by statute, we would produce it on rich soils in greater quantities than would be convenient for our treasury, or beneficial to our people. I need hardly say here, that the question of intention, on the part of nature, is not much helped by the habitat of the production used; otherwise we might expect to find the northern races less addicted to the use of this tropical weed than those of the warmer regions. We know that probably the contrary is the truth; but all our efforts to draw any conclusion for or against the adaptation of a race to a production of a climate, are rendered futile by the teachings, not more of our religion, than of naturalists, who insist for a central point of origin for all races, and a constitution suited to all climates. The safest position to hold, is that for which I insist, that a bad habit may be formed in any latitude, and supported by any number of arguments, where the wish still holds its mysterious power over the conclusions of what we call

reason.

4. As regards the composition of tobacco, we have endless experiments in that nearly new science, Organic Chemistry, which seems to try the patience of industry itself. There are some nine or ten different substances which go to the formation of a tobacco leaf, and these seem to change in their proportions according to the condition of the plant. Setting aside starch, various acids and salts, we come to what may be termed the

essential element or principle called Nicotina, with the formula CH" No. These proportions of carbon, hydrogen, and azote, really tell to the analyst nothing from which he could predicate any thing certain as to the character of the compound. In this respect, all the formulæ of organic substances are nearly under the same mystery; a small difference in the proportions producing the greatest difference in the combined results. But we can be under no mistake as to the character of the element which is called Nicotina a colorless liquid alkaloid, with an acrid, burning taste. It is one of the most intense of all poisons, approaching in its activity the strongest preparation of prussic acid.

5. The other important element procured from the analysis of tobacco, is an oil called nicotianin, supposed to be "the juice of cursed hebanon" referred to in Hamlet; this is the poet's formula; the chemist's is C"H"O'; but if the latter did not know from actual experience the deadly power of the substance, he would have a small chance of arriving at it by any analogy between formulæ. As this oily substance is also a very intense poison, differing essentially from the alkaloid, and indeed it is supposed capable of acting on different vital organs, we have thus in tobacco two poisons rather a remarkable fact in organic chemistry, where we find, generally, only one very active principle at the base of any particular production in the vegetable kingdom. It is indeed asserted by Landerer, that there is none of this deadly oil in the fresh leaves of tobacco; and Mr. Pereira remarks, that the substance must be developed in the drying of the leaves under the influ

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ence of air and water. The discovery, if true, may free the weed from the charge of possessing a double poison; but the consequence is all the same to the foreign consumer, who never sees the leaf in its green state.

6. It has been said that the smoke of tobacco, as analysed by Zeise and others, contains nothing of the deadly alkaloid, and tobacco smokers have pleaded for less detrimental effects from the pipe or cigar than from the quid; but I fear their conclusion is not very tenable, for the detrimental oil, as we in fact see from the pipe itself, is largely increased by the continued roasting and burning. We know, too, that the old pipe is a favorite with the epicures; the more oil by which it is blackened the better becomes the instrument, till it attains perfection as a mass of clay soaked with poison, and dried, and soaked and dried a hundred times, so that the entire matter is imbued with the absorption. See Dr Waller Lewis's recommendation to the gentlemen of the London Post-Office, at page 137. The chewer takes less of the oil, but more of the alkaloid; the smoker less of the alkaloid, but more of the oil; the comparison is simply a balance of evils, which is odious to either set of debauchees, and some get quit of the invidious comparison by taking the drug in both forms-a refuge from scientific doubt compensating for the greater amount of destruction to health and comfort. But if we are to believe Dr. Morries, the nicotianin is not destitute of a portion of the alkaloid; and as we know that the inhaled smoke is largely infected with the oil of an old pipe, the smoker has less to say for his habit than the chewer will concede; and I fairly admit, that it does

not appear to me to be at all clear, that the former has any advantage over the latter in other respects; for while the smoker's account must be debited with the topical diseases, chiefly carcinomatous, from which the chewer is to a great extent free, he consumes a far greater portion of the weed than his competing debauchee a surplus so great, in the confirmed cigar smoker, that we are often called upon for a surprise at the nuinber of these small rolls which constitute his daily supply.

7. Turning to the main part of our subject, the phystological effects, we find that, in the carnivora, tobacco shows its power in a very striking manner, causing vomiting, purging, universal trembling, staggering, convulsions, and stupor. Physiologists are not at one in regard to the peculiar mode of action; the nerves are probably the principal medium; but the many instances we have on record, of death produced by an application of small quantities to wounds, would indicate that the process is more complex. There is an ingenious experiment reported, where the effect of tobacco was noticed in an animal whose head was cut off, and artificial respiration kept up. The tobacco did not, as in the ordinary case, paralyse the heart; and the conclusion is accordingly drawn, that it is through the medium of the brain that the death action is exercised on that organ. But the whole of this question is rendered dubious or difficult by other facts. For instance, there is a difference of action between the alkaloid and the oil; the latter of which is said not to possess the power of paralyzing the heart. Applied to the tongue of a cat, one drop of the oil caused convulsions, and in two minutes death,