Tobacco Documents Online

I'uhl[ahed by t~ ~ •fnr 'Casy., 'ertf-asm asstd • ins tcr.t f r. scfer,f:T:c. f:T:c. - seff a 'sacr*fic.r~. tner~tf:c zct7on fus c~r.s . s ~, ~ iQ. ~ r. ~ ;s - , 7 1 • T~e:2~t:1~LC1uCII

4 C r " ik i1 . 1J +I .TIl1iIN 0098652

9 BY H. STERLING PO;IEROY, A.5L. M. B. The Boy HE boy is a young male of the ({~~ gtnus Iwma-a bundle of bones, muscles, blood, nerves, and various organs put together so as best to 'serve the purposes of development into a man. This is all the boy is for-to become a man. In order to develop into a man, the boy machine-baboratory requires air, water, simple food, sleep and exercise, and it requires nothing else, unless through some mishap it becomes deranged, and then only an experienced physician can tell what to do to set matters right again. The boy is always growing andd devel- oping, and it is a Iaw of growing things that they are peculiarly sensitive and sus- ceptible to outside influences, and are easily disturbed by them. So it follows Nors.-The Author's sxftriencc, either as a smoker or physician of tobacco victims, eovers a period of thirty years. I TIMN 0098653 .. . ~_ ~-~ -

that when the boy is habituated to some- thing nature did not intend for him-like an irritant, a stimulant or a sedative,- something immediately begins to go wrong. Incidentally, the boy has an intellect, but this is so mixed up with the bones, mus- cles, blood and organs, that it is not necessary for us to consider it separately now.' The Cigarette The cigarette is a very little tobacco and a small piece of paper, and it is only the tobacco that "counts;' the paper being simply a holder to contain the tobacco while it is being smoked. .Much has been said and written about the ill effects of cigarette paper, and opium and other drugs claimed to be mixed with the tobacco. This is mostly nonsense. Vcry little harm has ever come from cigarette paper; and the opium and other drugs in cigarettes exist mostly in the imaginations of those who denounce them. Cigarettes are made because they are commerciallyprofitable. They would not be if opium, strychnine, and other ex- pensive drugs were put into them. So it comes down to this : the ciearette is to3atto. . \~ 0 TIMN 0098654 ;

What is Tobacco? First, though, let us consider for moment what tobacco is not. It is no a food, nor a substitute for it. It in no way serves the body's need of water. It hinders the body's efforts to obtain proper air, sleep, and exercise. It is not a safe stimulant, nor a desirable sedative. It is not even a drug fit for use in any way as a medicine. So tobacco is in no way useful to the boy. ' Statements of Leading Medical Authorities Prof. Roberts Bartholow, M.A., M.D., LL.D., in the ninth edition of his Ma- ttria Hedica and Tlrtrapeutics, 'pages 693-695, says :"Tobacco is a severe and very depressing nauseant and emetic. It is locally an irritant to the mucous mem- brane, and produces burning pain at the e,pigastrium (stomach) . . . . Its active principle, nicotine, the salts of which are crystalline, diffuses into the blood with great rapidity. It corresponds in the mode and intensity of its action to prus- sic acid. In a case narrated by Taylor, a fatal result ensued in three minutes after a toxic (poisonous) dose. In another case death occurred in five minutes (M. 3 TIMN 0098655

!1 f' .r r- I- - ~ I v`L3b n..s:t. Fougnies poisoned by Comte liocarme). ... In the case narrated by Taylor, the deceased stared wildly; there were no convulsions, and he died quietly (in three minutes), heaving a deep sigh in expiring." The kindest and most graceful word ever expressed for tobacco is found ia Burton's flnatomy of ~3lrlanchol,v, but he is careful to add that this is only when the drug is used moderately and properly, and says,"`. .. as it is commonly abused by most men who take it as tinkers ao ale, 'tis a plague, a mischief, a violent purge of goods, lands anil health." Dr. B. W. Richartlson. in 1)israscf of Moa'ern Lrft, 033, pages 321 awi 3z:, refers to smoking as prodncing disturb- ances in the blood, in the stomach, in the mucous membranes of the mouth, in the heart, in the bronchial surface of the lungs, in the organs of sense (eye and ear), in the brain, and in the volitional and orEranic nerves. He concludes :"The effects of this (smoking), often severe evrn on those who have attained manhood, are especially injurious to the young who are still in a stage of adolescence. In these the habit of smoking causes impairment of growth, 4 TIMN 0098656

J z, :~tff~ i~ -- - ----.a„-~~->-, \ ,, premature manhood, and physical~_ tration." In Tha Prach'tianer (London), July, i9og, there is a series of articles on the effects of tobacco, written by some of the highest English medical authorities of to- day. Sir Lauder Brunton says : "Smoking, in moderation, does not seem to be injurious to grown-up people, but there appears to be a general consensus of opinion that it is very distinctly harmful to growing lads." llr. • Norman Dalton says :°' With our present knowledge, tobacco should never be used as a remedy. Even as an enema, it has frequently proved fatal." Dr. James Taylor says, "We know that to the child tobacco is highly poisonous and harmful." Dr. H. Lambert Lack says : t° Ciga• rette smoking is the most pernicious ... the younger the patient the more are ill effects to be seen. The ill effects of smoking are greatly exaggerated by indul- gence in alcohol." Similar testimony is given by many other medical authorities, but we have not space for quoting them. S 0 TIMN 0098657

lI\ ;i "ly L> r., 3 ¢ ) i When the Boy and the Cignrette Uet Together 'Then trouble begins ; the earlier this oc- curs the greater the disaster, and the fact that the cigarette age is rapidly lowering makes the problem more alarming. In the decade 1835 to r845 it is said that in this country the average age of the majority of those learning to smoke was twenty-two and a half years. This has rapidly lessened until now it is said to be less than eleven years, many even acquir- ing the habit at five years. The cigarette is especially bad because it is small, looks innocent, and is within the range of the average small boy's purse. Almost all smoking is learned now with cigarettes. The bad effects arc soon apparent. They are sure to come even when the boy smokes in the regular way, but most soon get beyond this and learn the horrible habit of "inhaling." This means taking the smoke ixto the lungs at we do the air we breathe. This is most dangerous and disastrous because in this way a great deal more of the deadly nicotint, a fifteenth of a grain of which has caused death, is absorbed by the system. F TIIVIN 0098658 '

L1 1 C vC ` :d 1A_ I t : i How the Cigarette Does Its Work First, it irritates the delicate lining o \y`t the mouth, throat, and lungs, makes them , sore, and less inclined to do their work; at the same time it partially paralyzes the nerves that control the breathing, and the boy sufftrs from lack of air. Second, the cigarette weakens the nerve that controls the heart, and makes it beat badly, too fast, too slow, stop, etc. ; and while working much harder than before it really accomplishes less, and the boy's blood begins to be purple instead of cherry red. This means that he is getting too little oxygen, and he feels nervous and blue. Third, the tobacco makes the stomach more active in preparing juices to digest food. As the boy smokes " as tinkers take ale," all the time if he can, the stomach being over-stimulated and over- worked, and secreting digestive juices when they are not needed and cannot be used, soon grows weak, and Caiis to pro- duce enough for use when really needed, and the boy, digesting badly, begins to be half starved, pale, and weak. Fourth, the cigarette boy soon finds it difficult to sleep as much as he needs; and, 0 ..+.w....~....~...~ .... ~ T1MN 0098659 '

1. Fifth, he becomes disinclined to exert himself, and neglects proper exercise. Naturally, at this stage, since he gets too little air, has a weak heart. loses sleep, and gets too little exercise, he begins to stop growing as fast as he should. This is enough, but there is more and w.orse to follow. I said the boy had an intellect. This now suffcrs ; the cigarette fiend grows careless, dull, and irrespon- sible; he loses interest in honest sports and his studies, and thinks more and more about his cigarettes ; he is deter- mined to have them, and often if there is no other way to get them, will resort to stealing. Morals are injured. The record of fif- teen boys who were sentenced in one lot for crimes show that ten of them had stolen to get cigarettes. A judge of the Supreme Court of New York stated that in one year nine boys were discharged from his private office for stealing postage stamps td buy cigarettes. Premature Manhood The last point made by Dr. B. W Richardson, premature manhood, has a deep significance in relation to the boy's morals. In our nervous and intense life 8 TIMN 0098660, -- -- -=~~ ---_ - -