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DOCTOR W.iTERIIOU^;E'S LECTURE
on the evil tendency of

and the pernicious effects of

Cautions io young persons concerning health

in a

PUBLIC LECTURE

delivered

at the close of the MEDICAL COURSE

in the
CHAPEL at CAMBRIDGE

Nov. 20. 1804; C' ' .*^vO/^' •'^/

containing

the GENERAL BOCrRINE of CHRONIC. DISEASES ?

shewing

the EVIL TENDENCY of

tlie USE of TOBACCO upon

YOUNG PERSONS ;

more especially

the PERNICIOUS EFFECTS of SMOKING CIGARRS ;

with observations on
the USE of ARDENT and VINOUS SPIRITS in general

BY BENJAMIN WATERHOUSE M. D.

)>KOFESSOR OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PHYSIC, AND TEACHER
OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.

-Ut sit mens sana In corpore sano.
Juv.

Printed at the UNIVERSITY PRESS by W. HiUiard.
MDCCCV.

J.

ADA^8|f/-2- I

TO THE MEDICAL STUDENTS,
RESIDENT GRADUATES,

AND

SCHOLARS OF EVERY CLASS.

YOUR application for a copy of iny lecture for the pres<s
indicates a disposition to persevere in the general resolution,
to relinquish an uri^-".'althy and unseemly practice.

I shall set a value on this production, should I hereafter
find, that it has in any way assisted you in the attainment
of that greatest of all earthly' blessings, " a sound mind in

A SOUND BODY."

BENJAMIN WATERHOUSE.

Cambridge Junuary 1805.

PUBLIC LECTURE.

eENTLEMEN,

Di

'URTNG the first liirce or four years of our mc-
dical establishment I frequently found it needful to give public
lectures in this place. Even eight or ten years after its establish-
ment it was customary to commence and to close the m.edical
course by a public lecture in the chapel.* The custom hov.xver
has been discontinued several years, as nothing special excited a
wish to address you altogether. Whether its revival at this time,
be for a trivial or beneficial purpose, you yours^veswill judge.

When our venerable forefathers fixed upon this spot, as a fit
place for the education of youth, they doubtless had regard to the
health of its inhabitants. A gravelly plain, near the banks of a
tide river, and in the proximity of the sea, together with good
springs of pellucid water,f must have led our sagacious ancestors
to conclude, that this was a salubrious spot for a college. Time
has done honour to their judgment, as during one hundred and
fifty years the town of Cambridge and the College have exhibit-

* A public lecture means here an address to all the students of the Uiiiver-
ty of every rank and class.

f Water -was thought by Hippccrales to be an article so important to the
health of a people, that of his treatises, one of the most elaborate is " on air
and luater" ; which includes soil and situation. Had tlie builders of 'J^iLho
known and followed the rules of Hippocrates, they wotild not have coniplain-r
ed to the prophet Elisua, that although " the situation of the city was pleas-
" ant, the water was naught and the ground barren."

ed a sncecssion of joyful instances of juvenile vigour, healthy
manhood, and comfortable old age. From observations, made
by tlie late excellent Dr. Wigglesworth,* it appears, that
there occurred fewer, much fewer deaths, among the collegians,,
than among any set of young men in any part of the Common-
wealth. Since my connexion vt,ith this University as Professor,,
I can bear testimony to the hcaltliiness of the inhabitants of the
town in general, and of the students in particular.f. I have no-
ticed the young men within these walls with pleasure, as a bloom-
ing, cheerful, hungry assemblage of youthful activity. But does
this charming picture any longer exist ? Is it not faded and fad-
ing, like a flower, that has passed its bloom ; and v/hiclf is about
to wither on its stalk ? If this idea be just, surely the cause of tliis
fided aspect in the plants of our Seminary calls loudly and af-
fectionately for investigation. If the full bloom of exuberant
health once marked and adorned these seats, and this bloom is
iled, or fleeing away ; it is certainly an object of prime impor-
tance to inquire, 'whence this deterioration ? Were I notpersuad-

• This worthy gentleman was professor of Divinity. His death, which
happened in "June 1 794, the author has never ceased to lament. To him we
]'rincipally owe the Medical Institution, founded here in 178a. By open-
ing a corresponJence with Principal Robertson and the Medical Professors at
Eilinburgh, he matured tb ■ plan, and lived to see it flourish. Dr. Wiggles-
iroRTH first suggested to the Corporation the idea of establishing Lecturet
on Natural History. C afidence in h\i prediction enabled the Lecturer to con-
tinue them from that period (1788) to the present.

f Professor Pearson remarks in a lecture, published since this was de-
livered, that "from 1769 to 1796, a period of twenty seven years, but nine
deaths took place among the undergraduates. But from 1796 to the present
time, a period of little more than eight years, sixteen students terminated their
probation for eternity, before they had completed their academic course ; and.,
what deserves particular notice, most of them died of consumption. During the
period, first mentioned, the deaths were to the years, as 9 to 57, Of as i to 3,
that is, one death in three years. During the last period,' tlie deaths have
been fo the years, nearly as 16 to 8, that is two deaths in one year. Hence it
appears, that the number of deaths among undergraduates during the last eight
years, compared with tiiat of thp preceding ty/enty seven years, has increased
nearly in a sixfold ratio. A result, Avorthy of serious consideration ; especially,
when it is added, that four of these melancholy events took place in one year,
and six of them in one class. In this connexion I am constrained to add that,
during the two lust years, and soon after receiving the first honors of thi«
University, four others have been numbered with their deceased companion*,
alike victims to consumption."

#d, that it might be traced to a moral as well, as a physical source, t
would not have appeared at this time before you. My motive
is your welfare and the happiness of your parents ; for what are
riches and knowledge without health to enjoy them ? But alas !
the young, the gay, and the giddy abuse health through igno-
rance ; and when better informed, some of them refuse to stop,
or lend a listening ear to the warning voice of Nature and com-
mon sense j while " he thai taketh heed prolongeth bis lifeJ"

It is proper to inform you, that we are led in the order of in-*
Struction to speak, at this period of our course, of those dlsordertt
which mankind BKiKG upon themselves by their own impru-
dence.

It was a sagacious saying of one of the antients, tliat " GOD
" sends acute diseases^ but chronic disorders lue creale ourselves.^*

Acute diseases are such, Els proceed with rapidity, and ter-
minate soon ; such are violent fevers, plurisies, quincies, and epi-
demical disorders* They are generally owing to a cause, that
♦« walketh in darkness," being such as prudence could not obviate,
nor our prescience guard against. The superstitious are apt to as-
cribe the most dismal diseases and m.ost shocking accidents to the
anger of invisible beings ; thus when the plague was desolating
the Grecian camp, instead of resorting to human remedies, they
had recource, like our Indians, to incantations and inchantments*

Chrom ic diseases are those, that come on sloSvly, and continue
long. We place under this head depraved appetite^ jaundice.^ and
the long and gloomy train of nervous disorders. To tliese we may
add gout, asthma,\ palsy ^ and apoplexy ; as well, as that imbecility
Or morbid derangement of the absorbent system, occasioning
dropsies ; which is accompanied by that generally depraved habit

* That specie9 Of jaundice, especially termed Icterus rnHcesum, See Vaa.
Swieten §950.

f That species, den6minated asthma ^/7j/a/(r«/«;» ; which, like tlie gmit, pal-
sy, and apoplexy, takes its origio from long continued affections of the stomaclu

8

of body, known among physicians by the name of cachexia ; all
of which are owilig to chronic lueakness ; the source of which
is an imbecility of the digestive organs, occasioning errors
in *' the first concoction," which deranges the whole chain of
processes, occurring between chyUfication and sanguification.

Perfect health requires the temperate action of the vital influ-
ence through, every part of the system. In perfect health food is
sought with appetite, enjoyed witli relish, and digested with fa-
cility. In perfect health every secretion and excretion is dulj
performed. Perspiration is neither deficient nor excessive. The
breathing is free and easy, requiring neither conscious exertion, nor
even a thought. The action of the heart and arteries with the con-
sequent circulation of the blood is regular and placid -, neither too
rapid nor too indolent ; neither laboured nor oppressed. In per-
fect health the body continues in the exercise of its proper func-
tions without the least sensation of difiiculty or embarrassment.
The mind undisturbed by any violent emotions, agitations, or de-
pressions of a corporeal nature, is in a state for exercising its no-
blest powers with tranquil vigour. The body is perfectly free
from pain, oppression, hebetude, and every species of uneasiness 5
and a certain vivacity, not to be described, reigns throughout the
system.* This happy, but evanescent condition, constitutes the
" mens sana In corpore sano" of Juvenal, " a healthy body and a mind
at ease.''

The first derangement of this delightful state Is felt in tlie
stomach. Its faculty of communicating impressions, made by-
various substances taken into it is such, that it seems more like
a nervous expansion from the brain, than a mere receptacle for
digesting food. We sliall speak of tills faculty hereafter ; and
eonnne our view at present to the function of digestion.

Digestion is the selection and conversion of some foreign pa-
bulum or food into our own nature. There are witliin us two
* Sei an E-^say of Dr. Co^nN od the subject of health.

tot-gdns, performing at the same time two different kinds of diges-
tion ; for while the stomach is d\g'^'-A'w^ solid suhlances, the kings
are digesting air.* Digestion of sohd substances by the stomach
is the conversion of food into chyle, and of chyle into blood.
A regular supply of this milky fiaid is necessary to recruit and
repair those parts of the animal machine, that are incessantly
wearing down, and passing off, by the very actions requisite to
life. When this function is impaired and much deranged, the
patient languishes, becomes emaciated, faiats, and at length dies.
If digestion be well performed, that is completed within three or
four hours,f the chyle is proper, be tlie food ever so various.
Blood formed from this chyle is natural ; the secretions and ex-
cretions are regular ; and health, strength, activity, and cheer-
fulness ensue. But if digestion languish, the contrary of this
Vill happen, be the food whatever it may.

That the Lungs digest air may be to you a novel doctrine.
These vital organs are made up almost entirely of two sets of ves-
sels, one conveying air, the other blood. When we inhale at-
mospheric air, these oigansin the action of breathing separate a
portion of that inspired mass, called oxygen or vital a:r,X which

* While man, quadrupeds, and birds, select and inspire oxygenmis gtts from
the atmosphere, by their lungs, fish inhale the same vital principle from the wa-
ter by their gills.

f Marshal B'lron, who had a remarkably keen appetite, was killed by a
cannon ball an hour after dinner. On opening the body not the least trace of
food was to be found in the stomach.

\ Dr. Priestley was the first who demonstrated the existence or identity
tof oxygenous g-as, or, as he called it, difhlogisticatsd air. That there was such a
principle in the atmospheric air was known long before. Not to mention Dr.
Hook and Mayow, who were cotemporary with Boyle, if we turn to the ar-
ticle AIR in Jame's Medical Dictionary, which article is compiled from the
writings of Arnaldus de Killa No-ja, and Boerhaav^, we shall find the foliowinir
account of the acidifying principle in the atmosphere. The upper surface of
the blood, says Boerhaave, that is exposed to the air is of a bright scarlet,
while in every other part, which the air does not come at, grows as black, as
the blood of the cuttlefish ; and yet as soon as ever this black part is laid open
to the air, the black colour is immediately changed into a scarlet This vivi-
fying principle in air, so necessary to the support of flame and fire, as well, as
animal and vegetable life, seems by every phcenomenon to be the tmi-versal acid^
distributed through the entire atmosphere, in a certain proportion ; insomuch,
that no portion of air seems to be without it. It is this acid, that corrodes

altering ilie blood viclfies and animates the whole frame ; anrf
iictualiy becomes one of the constituent principles of our bodies.
Between this oxygenation of the blood through the lungs, and the
digestion of the food by the stomach tliere exists an inseperablc
sympathy and a beautiful balance. When the stomach is load-
ed with a superabundance of food, we pant icrc breath. When
xve breathe the oxygenated air of the mountains or of the open
ocean, we feel not merely a keener appetite, but a greater quan-
tity of food than ordinary will be digested without oppression of
the stomach, or labour of the lungs. In fewer words, it is oxy-
genation, that excites the dormant energies of the brain and ner-
vous system, which mvigorates every fibre, giving strength for
debility, and activity for sluggishness.* Such is the conspiration

the baser metals. By this acid the calx of vitriol, of alum, and the earth, from
v/hich nitre has been procured, are again replenished in such- a manner, as to
be ci-pable of producing acid spirits afresh. There is reason to suspect, that
flowers are obliged to this acid of the air for their beautiful- colours. Dyers
of scarlet cannot strike that colour without the assistance of an acid. Hence
the phcenoinenon of the surface of the blood, when exposed to air contracting"
a redness, may be in some measure accounted for. All concerned in dying ob-
serve, that a cloudy moist air interferes with the beauty and vividness of
their colours ; and that a serene sky exalts them, and makes them more elegant.
This acid of the air finds some way of mixing with the blood. It is believed,
that this gtahd operation h performed in the lungs, and that then the blood ac-^
quires a scarlet colour. //; ivhat docs this d'ljfcr from the modern doctrine of
OXYGEN .''

To persuade students of the present d-ay to peruse an-^ medical or chemi-
cal book, written anterior to 40 years, is not an easy task. They suffer under
a notion, that all chemical and medical authors, prior to Black and Cullen,
composed their works in the dark. Even the writings of the immortal Boer-
haave are deemed but of little worth ! It has been perhaps at the risk of re-
putation that I have recommended from time to time the writings of Harvey^
Hiiyscb, and IVlllis in anatomy ; Aretaus Cajtpadox, Prosper Alpinus, znd Syden-
ham in the practice of medicine ; and Wiseman in surgery ; Amaldus, Van Hel-
tiiont, Sfcihl, and Botrhcia-ve in chemistry ; Aldro-oandus and Gesner in natural
history ; Ma!pighii:s and Greir in botany ; Hook, Hales, and BoyU in natural
philosophy ; and Lord Bacon for the whole Encyclopc-cdia.

He, who studies for example the old chemists, will thereby preserve his
mind from being overwhelmed with admiration for tixe labours of Black, Lavoi-
sier, and Priestley, great and important as they are. Medical students and
young physicians thirst after new publications, without considering that book-
making is now become a trade in Britain ; where, instead of increasing the
stock of knowledge, they are only pouring it out of one phial into another
for sale.

* Arnalditt de Villa Neva, an excellent physician, chemist, and philosopher,
ivho flourished about the year 1300, wa» not ignorant of this exhilirating

II

of action between the stomach and the lungs, and such the sym-
pathy of both with the whole human system, that these organs
are either primarily or secondarily affected by every malady,
that flesh is heir to.

The first intimation of a chronic disorder is almost always
felt in the stomach. That wonderful organ has a remarkable
contractility, by which it applies the inner surfiice closely to the
materials it incloses.* That distressing sensation, called " a shtl--
tng" at the stomach, is owing to a diminution of its power of
contraction. The healthy contractility of this prime organ of
digestion is not owing merely to the force of its own fibres, but
depends on the joint energy of the whole system, corporal, and
corporeal ; for the more vigorously the stomach applies itself to
its contents, the more speedily is digestion performed, and the
braver does a man feel, the better does he walk, think, and
write.

The disorder progressing, the patient Is oppressed wIlK list-
Jessness and sense of weight over all his body ;. he becomes pale,
at certain Intervals, and a sweat breaks out, irregularly in differr_
ent parts of^ his body. Digestion is slow, in consequence of
which the patient is distressed with mawkishness, sourness, heart-
bum, and nausea, witli frequent calls for food, from_^ a sense oii^.
sinking, not from geni;ine hunger. The distention of the alimen-
tary canal by flatulency increases the distress of the sufferer. It
is remarkable, that in tlais state of the stomach, wine is more ea-
gerly desired, than at any other time.

The causes of the disorder continuing to be applied, sleep Is
disturbed and followed by torpor, bordering on stupidity ; Uie

Mmcthirtn in the atmosphere. He speaks of a clear, pure air, that makes the
heart glad, the mind serene, the body lightsome, at the same time, that it ac-
celerates digestion. He speaks of a contrary condition of the air, which dis-
turbs the heart, darkens the mind, makes the body heavy, and retards and hin-
ders digestion.

* It can be distended, so as to contain five <juart6, and contracted so as ts
contain less than half a gill.

12

patients eyes become hollow and lose their viracity ; an univer-
sal debility most sensibly felt in the digestive organs, v/nh an en-,
creased or morbid irritability, perverting tlieir regular actions
the pulse is quickened, the breath labours, cough comes on, andi

consumption follows.

When the fountain of health is thus disturbed, the smallest
streams must also be deranged. Can we wonder then, that the
uhhncs 'uascultz and the minima Jihrills of the organ of intellect are
finally alxected, occasioning despondency of mind j or else peev-
ishness, doubts, fears, wandering tlioughts, and ridiculous fan-
cies ? Thedisease seldom proceeds to this in very young persons.^
As imprudence in youth iavs a foundation for Hypochcndriasis ixx
certain temperiments in manhood, you cannot be too cautious of
the first breaches on your tender constitutions. If in youth yoti
transgress the first principles of nature, She may punish you in fu-
ture life v.-ith a long and dismal train of Net yous Disorders, than
which there cannot be a greater torment. A nervous man may es-
cape volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes, inundations,
mobs, sieges, and revolutions ; but whither shall he fly to avoid heats
and frosts, a lowering sky, and east winds ? To what city or village
shall he repair, that is not infested with creaking doors, jarrring
windows, screaming children, and fretful inmates, to lacerate his
ftcrvss, and render him the most wretched being under heaven !

Having given you a description of cheerful health and of its
deviation into gloomy disease, let us now see if we cannot dis-
cern some general cause or causes, producing this declcnsion.f

Moral philosophers unite witli physicians of the first rank in
opinion, that all chronic disorders arise from either ist. Vexa-
tion OF MIND, or 2d. an indolent and sedentary life, or

* See Cullen's distinctioq between Dyspepsia and HypochondilasU
§MCLXXII to §MCLXXV.

f Ut curvi norma rectum, ita morbi sanitas, says Gautius — that is, as 2^
curve line is the reverse of a strait, so is health of a disease.

^3

gd. Intemperance ; or from the cooperation of any t^vo cf
tJiem ; or from the combination of all three.*

It is a melancholy reflection, that there are as many pressed
down to the grave by chronic disorders, brought on by a trou-
bled mind, as are cut off by acute ones. Envy, jealousy, con-
cealed resentment, and die corroding discontents of a life of pe-
nury and neglect, have slow but destructive effects on the deli-
cate mind and " fine spun frame." A man is often cheerful un-
der the loss of a limb ; and long habit may render a deranged
state of health tolerable ; " btit a 'u/ouv.ded spirit tvbo can har ^"

The first effect of violent grief or trouble of mind is depriva-
tion of the povyers of digestion. A man in the best healtli, the
highest good humour and spirits, as well as good stomach, sit-
ting down to dinner with his friends, receives suddenly some ve-
ry afflicting news. Instantly his appetite is gone, and he cannot
swallow a morsel. Let the same thing happen after he dras
made a hearty, cheerful meal, as suddenly the action of his sto-
mach ceases, the whole po wer of digestion Is cut off totally, as if
it were become paralytic ; and what he has eaten lies a most op-
pressive load. Now what connexion is tlrere between a piece of
bad news and a man's stomach, full or empty ? It Is, says Ci:do-
gan, because tlie animal spirits or action of the nerves, v/liatever
be the secret cause of their power, are called off to supply and
support the tumultuous agitation of the brain, and the stom.ach
with all its appendages and secretions Is left powerless aad para-
lytic. In this case the lungs, which ahvays sympathize with
the distresses of the stomach, endeavour to relieve their oppres-
sion by a deep sigh.

The principle agent in the process of digestion Is a peculiar
fluid, secreted in the stomach, called the gastric juke. The quan-
tity and activity of this singular liquor depend on the contractile

* If the reader will cast his eye over Dr. CaJogan^s treatise on the goat,
he will see how closely we have adhered to his principles, in this part of our
lecture.

14

power of the digestive organ, as a proximate cause ; andi on the
energy of the whole system, as a remote one. In silent, long
continued grief this fluid is deficient in quantity and depraved
in quality. The chyle is of course vitiated and the functions of
;he stomach perverted ; its contents become sour, bitter, and
janciJ. The sufferer pines away for want of a nourishing sup-
ply ; an universal bad habit of tsody ensues ; a complication of
disorders, succeeding each other always fron:; bad to worse ; and.
unless the wretched person can subdue anxiety, he sinks under
his misery, and dies, as is saidj of a broken heart.*

In turning away from this sorrowful picture, I wish you to;
remember, that it is the stomach ivhkh first suffers ; and that what-
ever damps the spirits, injures that organ ; and we skall sec
hereafter, that whatever injures the stomach, depresses the spirits.

Let us now advert to causes more common and more appli-
cable to the main object of dais lecture.

The causes of Dyspepsia^ or bad digestion, the grand inlet to
all chronic disorders, an-ange themselves under two heads.
First those, which act upon the whole Body, or particular
parts of it, but in conseqxience of which the stomach is chiefly af-
fected. Secondly those, which act directly and immediately upon
the Stomach itself. :j: To these we may add a third, viz. caus-
es, which act at the same time upon both.

An indolent and sedentary rife we place at the head of causes,
which act upon tlie whole body : next to this

Troulle of mind, of which we have already spoken : and|
lastly

A rakish life.

Need we go fai for arguments to prove, that the only ra-
tional creature on earth was destined to exercise and improve

* See Cadogan on the gout.

•j- From ^yj, bad or difficult, and -TrixTU^ to concoet.

:j: See Culleifs ch^p. on Dyf.pepsia,

*5

the faculties of his mind as well, as tlie powers of his boJy ?
The Parent of Universal Nature has imposed, kindly im-
posed on his children, the salutary task of moderate labour, as
the best means of preserving their health and their innocence.
He has in like manner encouraged them to exercise the towering
faculties of their minds by the contemplation of His works ; and
has given them a tliirst after useful science, stimulating them to
amend their natural condition. He has accordingly decieed,
that the prudent exercise of the corporal and mental powers
should strengthen each other. To live a life of indolence is to sin
against one of the first laws of our Creator ; accordingly we
find, that the offender is punished with loss of health and spirits;

The time, alloted to a lecture, is not sufficient to go into a
description of the subtle operations of the body. We may re-
mark generally, that our best health, strength, and spirits^ de-
pend on the good and natural state of the minutest and almost
imperceptible vessels and nenres of the body. The little diminu-
tive pipes and tubes, the extended continuations of larger ves-
sels, must be kept free and open. I consider die body, sayS
Addisotiy as a system of tubes and glands, or a bundle of pipes
and strainers, fitted to one another after so wonderful a manner,
as to make a proper engine for the soul to work with.* The
strengtlr of the heart and arteries alone in a sedentary life is by
no means sufficient to keep up and perpetuate the requisite mo-
tion of tlie fluids tlirough these capilliary vessels j but it requires
the assistance and joint force of all the rnuscles of the body to
propel and accelerate tlie circulation of the whole mass of blood,
in order to keep these minute tubes pervious and clear.f

That sprightly vigour and alacrity of health, says Caclo^an^
which we feel and enjoy in an active course of life, that zest in
appetite and refreshment after eating, which sated luxury seeks
*i Vain from art, is owing wholly to new hlood-, made every day

* Spectator Ne. CXV. f CidogaH.

10

Jrom fresh food, prepared and distributed by the joint action of all pdrig
of the body. , No man, says he, vCiin have these delightful sensa-
tions, who lives two days with the same blood. To introduce new
jaices, the old must be thrown oiT ; or there will be no room,
there will be too great a plethora or fulness. In a state of indo-
lence or inactivity the old hnmpurs pass off so slowly, the insen^
sible perspiration is so inconsiderable, that there is no void to be
filled ; consequently by degrees the appetite or desire of supply
must daily diminish, and at last be totally lost.* To this doc-
trine morbid indolence will reply^ that this plethoric or crowded
state of the system with all the disagreeable feelings, consequent
tliereon, may be removed by evacuating medicines. There is
r.o reasoning with those, who had rather take a purge, tlian a
■Vralk ; or an emetic, tlian a ride.

Some of yoit injure your health by too close application
?o study. Sedentary thoughtfulness will wear out the body,
and t^eneiate diseases that shorten life. A dyspeptic stom.ach,
emaciated body, and irritable feelings, compose the heavy tax,
which men of fine intellects and deep study pay for their emi-
tiencCi But tliere is a sort of la'zy literature, a kind of suspended
animation, which engenders many chronic diseases, tliat embitter
and shorten life. This torpid state, in ^rhich mind and body are
equally stagnant, occasions tasteless meals, perpetual languor,
and causeless anxiety. Here the body is not ivornf but rusts
out. In this state, wine, ardent spirits, and tobacco are eagerly
coveted.

Let us next consider impressions made directly and hnmedtatelj^
en the stomach.J

* Cadogan was a disciple of the humoral pathology. To feel the full
force of his reasoning, the medical student must advert to the distinction be-
tween plethora ad volumen, and plethora ad 'uires. See Gaiibius. Path, histitut,

t Opportunities of looking into the stomach of a living subject are very
rare indeed. I remember but two instances on the records of medicine. Onei
was a woman, who was in tlie general hospital at Vienna in 1798. She had
her stomach perforated by a wound, which could not be closed up. Through
tills wound her food might be seen. When any indigestible food created un-*

To remove tlie sinking, dismal languor and dejection, brouglit
on by offending against the first principles of our nature, men
turn for a momentary relief to

Intemperance :
Which is commonly an application of stimulating and narcotic
tilings to the stomach. But who shall define Temperance ? a
Word like liberty, diiferent in signification in different countries.
Before you can adjust the criterion of temperance, you should
visit some of the colleges on the continent of Europe, where a
piece of bread, an &gg. Or an onion with a draught of milk and
"Water, is thought a tolerable meal. Theie is however an abso-
lute, determined temperance, measured by every man's unpro-
voked appetite and consumption ; a mean, at which virtue takes
her stand.

If a man go on daily taking more than he needs or can get
rid of, he feels oppressed, his appetite fails, and his spirits sink.
Then he has recourse to rich, stimulating food ; and though he
washes down each mouthful with a glass of wine, he can relish
nothing. Thus distressed, lie applies to the Doctor to give him
an appetite ! who, after evacuating him upwards and downwards,
gives him aromatic hitters infused in "wlne or brandy, elixir of vit-
riol ;* lark, oil of avonn-ivocdy steel, cohimho j soap, aloes, and rhu->
iarh ; quassia and Ume'water. Some of these by giving contracti-
lityt to the imbecile organ afford a short respite to his suffer-
ings. They may moreover effect a transient but fallacious re-
lief by forcing the concocting powers to squeeze their crude

easiness, as sour erouf, she took the oppressive food out with her fingers, end
washed out her stomach with water, and this always relieved her, and revived
her appetite. Milk was observed to cnidle instantly, except when she liad
darefully rinced out her stomach. In this case says Dr. Hclme, the coagulation
did not take place, till after some time, for want he supposes of gastric liquor.
The coagulation could be expedited by irritating the inner surface of the sto-
mach with the finger. Asses milk was longer in coagulating than cows milk.
The last coagulated in a few moments. Eggs, and cheese were quickly di-
gested, hut not so soon as flesh meat. Vegetables in general vi^ere longer un-
dergoing this process ; of these potatoes, and carrots passed off soonest.

Elixir of vitriol, if long continued, has a pernicious effect on the stomach;
f, See page ii.

i8

austere contents Into the blood ; until at lengtTi opptesieJ, ^Ta^
ture resents the injury in the form of gout, palsy, or apoplexy. A
slcillfiil, honest physician, will say in such cases, — your cure can
only be found in exercise. A ride with the cheerful scenery'
of a new and beautiful country will give you healtli, vigour, and
vivacity, sound sleep, and a keen appetite. But no drugs can
act upon your blood and juices, like the joint force of all the mus-
cles of your body, acting and reacting, as in a regular course o£
moderate exercise ; nor can any of our draughts and portions
oxygenate your pulmonic blood, like the inspiration of the salufc^
ferous air of the mountains*

" The first physicians by debauch were made j

Excess began, and sloth sustains the trade.

By chace our longliv'd fathers earn'd thtir food i

Toil strung the nerves, and purify 'd the blood.

But we their sons, a pamper 'd race of men.

Are dwindled down to three score years and tea.

Better to hunt in fields for health unbought,

Than fee the Doctor for a nauseous draught.

The wise for cure on exercise depend :

God never made his work for maa to mend."' Dry/far,

"We have said,* that the causes producing chronic diseases'^
Pranged themselves under two general heads ; — those, which act
on the nvl'jle body, and which affect the stomach in a secondary
way ; — and those, which act directly on the stomach, and affect
the whole body through the medium of that organ ; that to
these we might add causes, acting upon the whole body and u^-
en the stomach at the same time ; such for example as

A Rakish Life. A rakish life is too well known to need %
description. Tt is often a halo of misery, surrounding the bright*
est genius ! To point out its ill effects would be an insult to
your understandings. I might as well labour to convince you:
of tlie blessings of health or the advantages of industry. I pass

* See page 14;-

19

ihe subject over in silence, only remarking in Uie words of
Martial,

" Balnea, Fina, Vztius* consumunt corpora nostra."

Instances of young gentlemen sinking deep into the scartdalous
habit of drinking ardent spirits are very rare indeed ; yet it
would not be difficult to prove, that there is and has been for se-
veral years six limes as mucli ardent spirit expended annually
here, as in the days of your grandfathers. Unruly wine and ar-
dent spirits have surplanted sober cider.f Is it not the case,
that some use them of that strengtli and in that quantity, v/hich
is not consistent with the regular functions of the brain ? |. Ma-
ny, warmed by the generosity of youth, may think it consonant

* Beside the ordinary ronsumption, which is a cougl'mg up of purulent mat"
^r from the lungs "with a Icdlc fe-jer, there is a nervous consumption, a maras-
mus, or Tabes dorsalls, of which these are tlie most striking^ symptoms ; — an
irksome feeling of the whole body, with an increased sensibility and morose-
liess of temper. A painful tenderness of the eyes, with a dminess of sight ;
and sometimes a suffusion of tears"; a ringing of the ears ; a disagreeable feel-
ing in the skull, as if the membranes of the brain were twisted.* Not only
a disinclination to study, hut an inability to concentrate his isleas on any sub-
ject. With a failure of digestion, there is a sinking at tlie pit cf the stomach.
End a sensation, as if the whole tract of the bowels, with die vesica urinaria,
were pulled down, and even scraped. There is a dull pain in the back of the
neck, a frigid, disagreeable, shuddering sensation, passing down the back, al-
ternating with internal heat, 'fliesc symptoms are more distressing in the
morning. The causes continuing-, the function ef digestion is ruined ; a lean-
ness and dryness of the body ensue ; the countenance has a peculiar sallow
cast, with a physiognomy expressive of unhappiness. Frons lata f arum et dejectt
lumina •oultti. Virg. For more information read TissoT.

* Dissections sbeiv that, that process of the Dura tnaiery ivhich passes betzveen
the tivo hemispheres of the brain, called the falciform process, is particulai'ly affected.
The Pia mater has been found hardened, and to coalesce •with tlje brain.

f Until within a few years, it %vas so constant a custom for the collegiair
to bottle off his barrel of cider, that cellar rent was a charge in each quarter
bill ; but no such thing exists at present. The cellars are ur.occupied, while-,
tlie " studies'^ contain the Quas.t-o'j..

\ Of ARDENT SPIRITS and WINE

The art of procuring ardent spirits by distiilation wa-v a discovery cf
the Arabian chemists. They first obtained it from rice ; whence it took it5>
name arrac. At present it is generally procured by the distillation of ferment-
ed liquors. In France it is drawn from wines. In England and in Germany
from malt liquors ; and in this country and the West India Islands from su-
gar and from molasses. This ardent spirit, from whatever subject it is ob-
tained, is found, if freed from its phlegm and gross oil, to be essentially the
same. By repeated distillatic-ns this sjnrit is puriaad, wiien it obtaies the..
^s&hic fm&e ef alooM.

20

with prudence to drink so, as to produce tliat exhflaratbn of
spirits, which takes place just on this side intoxication ; but I
hesitate not to pronounce, that the repetition of such practices i»
pernicipus to health and dangerous to morals. Cannot wisdoin

Wine is the fermented juice of the grape, and containa three different
matters : First a portion of must or unassimilated matter. Second a portio*
vi Proper WINE, in which by means of fermentation a quantity of alcohol in
produced. Third a portion of Vinegar, produced by too active or too long
protracted fermentation. In new wine the must will be most abundant ; a%
fermentation advances the portion of genuine •u.'ine will be more considera-
ble ; if fermentation has all along been properly managed, 'vinegar will not ap-.
pear in any considerable quantity. From the proportion of these several
matters, depending on the i)eriod and state of the fermentation, the qiulHie*
of wine may be ascertained. See Neumann's C'btm. Lewis' Mater. Mei
and Motherby's Diet.

The CEnus or wine of the antients ; that, which Paul recommendtn
ed, as good for the stomach, was a very different liquor from the wine, drank
by the English, Irish, arid Americans. The wine of the antients was th&
pure juice of the grape, rendered active by fermentation ; for they were to-.
t^'.lly ignorant of ardent spirits ; whereas our strongest wines contain a fourth

fart of this fiery spirit, while many of the cheap ones are a vile mixture of
eleterious articles, justly ranked among the remote causes of our ner-jous dis-
crders, palsies, and apoplexies. If one gallon of our strongest bodied wines ba.
tubmitted to distillation, it yields one quart of spirit, that will burn whea
thrown on th.: fire. The f;'.'.;ini;iiy of sharp vinegar, contained in the samg^
portion of v/ii.L', jj rot ^so easily ascertained.

We will now present you with a few experiments, demonstrating the per-
ricious effects of spirituous and vinous liquors, first on the stomach of brutei
and next on the human.

In Bavaria during the years 1797, 1798, and 1799, the scarcity of foddec
compelled them to destroy a great number of horses, employed both for the
purjioses of war and of agriculture. Dr. Pilger availed himself of this op-
portunity, and made a ninnbcr of cruel experiments on nearly two hundredl
horses with arsenic, c; rrosive sublimate, barytes, opium, belladonna, hemlock,
laurel water, dlstilh'd spirits, ivine, and vi>"-'gar. After giving horses brandy, so,
as not only to exhilarate them but to make them stagger, and e%-en to drop
down; he found on opening them, that it shrivelled and contracted the sto-
mach, gave a bloodshot appeai-ance to tlie intestines, and produced congestions
in the brain. Eat the effect oi 'vinegar was the most remarkable. Concen-
trated vinegar excited the most dreadful spasms, and produced fatal symp-
toms. They became extrenaely we.ak before death ; and in those, which
were killed in this extreme weakness, the alimentary canal exhibited very lit-
tle or no irritability on priching its fibre?.

That vinegar is destructive to the human stomacli is known by its effects^
on plump, healthy females, who from a silly desire of looking delicate, that
i& sickly, swalloVv daily large draughts of vinegar. This innocent practice o«-
/v ruins th<i digestive faculty, and thereby deprives the system of its requisite
nourishment ! The only standard of beauty is high health. Pr. Beddoes tells
us, that in some of the boarding schools in England, a keen appetite and ita
consequence embonpoint is neld up by the mistress, as a dreadful evil ; and
that starvation and vinegar are encouraged, instead of being severely deno',yjcn
fd. Etiiaciation, thus indu>-edjl<;JsJs to consumption.

2t

lievlse a plan of social intercourse-, indcpendtnt of the stirnxiliis
of the bottle ? It is said such plans existed in the city of Gex"»
VA, before the French inflicted the benefits of ^Zvir] ihert}' on thut
philosophic people.

From vhat has been said it appears, that some wme makes a twofold ^-i
tack on our health and happiness. It i^ttachs the stomacli as v>'ine, and re-
turns to the charge in the form of %nne>);ar. Kence in weakly stomachs,
wlien the ingcsM aie composed chiefiy of vegetables, and nearly on tlie point
of acidity, a single glass of wine, nay half a glass, will turn the whole mass
into so much thick vinegar. Then come nagyicslu and i'lme-ivat^r to neutral-
ize the vinegar bottle ! Who then but mtjst »ee the absurdity of throwii;g a
glass of wine into a nysf-cpiic ftom.ach directly after a dinner, composed chieEy
of vegetables ? Yet it" is constantly dpne to the unspeakable distress of the suf-
i'erer, agonizing with wind and acid. Physician* ghould endeavour to con-
vince such patients, thai v/ind and acid are not the cansea, hut the conse-
quences of a torpid, imbecile stomach. They shoakl be told, that when a
healthy stomach is moderately filled with vegetables and veil roasted, or ivell'
toiled meat, neither air, no? acid is to be found b tlie whole aiiruer.tary canaU

Of THS PERNICiODS EFFECTS OF WINE ON CIULDRE?^.

The best informed European physicians condemn the practice of glvinsy
■^vine dally to children, k has become a prevalent custom of late in Ameri-
ca, to give a glass of wine to such children, as are old enough to sit at taliie
with their parents. If the opinion of experienced physicians have no weight
with parents, the following v/e!l conceived experiment, being proof pc-itive
of the pernicious effects of wine, may possibly induce some to reflect a littlft
on the subject.

A physician of great eminence in London gave to one of his children a
full glass of sheriy every day after dinner for a week. The child was about
five years old, and had never been accustomed to wine. To another child,
nearly of the same age and under similar circumstances, he gave a lugn Chi-
na orange for the same space of fime. At the end of a week he found a ve-
ry material difterence in the pulse, the heat of the body, tlae urine, and the
stools of the two children. In the first the pulise was quickened, lije heat
increased, the urine high coloured, and the stools dutitute of their umal quantify
of bil.' \ while the second had every appearance, tiiat indicated high health.
He then reversed tfje experiment ; to the frst meiitioned child he ga-vre the
orange, and to the other the wine. The effects followed as before ; — ^ siril-.
ing and demonstraii'ue ^raofnf the pernhioHS ejfects of ivine on the cotutitution of cbtl-.
drcn in full hsaith.

I'his accurately e:tecutQd experim.ent is related by Tvlr. Sanford, Surgeon at
Worcester in England, and quoted by Dr. Beddoes in his Hygeiei ; v;ho thus
remarks on it, " that the difciency of bile is full evidence of the injurious ef-
" feet of v/ine upon the digestive organs in this double experiment.'" Yet.
"we find that some physicians have leainied their patients to attribute these ve-
ry complaints to a redundancy cf bile ! and therefore prescribe salt of ivormiLor.i
and rhuhr.rb ; or soap, rhiibirb, aud aloes, inducing thereby a farther weakness of
the digestive organs, tlie proximate cause cf the disorder. IVIy venerable pre-
ceptor, Dr. FoTUEaoiLL cured such ccmplaints with fresh made pnrt.r. Ey
the time London porter arrives in tliis country it contains too much vii:egar
to be serviceable in these cases.

Alahomet with a view to temperance forbad his follovi-ers to drink wine j.
and in order to correct their savage -custom of eating raw flesh, as do ti'.o^

Among the causes, wliich act directly and immediately oa,
the stomach, wc mentioned, besides ardent and vinous spirits, ccr*
tniu Narcotic substances.

Narcotics are soporiferous drugs, "which induce stupefac-
tion. It is the property of narcotics to exhilarate first, and tlien
to relax and stupify. They invariably debilitate the organs, to
^vhich tliey "Arc immcdtatcly applied j at lengtli they have a simi-
lar effect pn the; whole system. At the head of this class of
drugs we place opium,* which is the milky juice that exudes
fiom the heads of poppies, wlicn incisions are made in tl:iem j
.;ind then gradually dried in the sun. To this class belong alsa
Cicuta or hemlock, Belladonna or deadly nightshade, Stramonium
©r apple of Peru, and Nicotiana or Tobacco..

The Turks, who were forbidden by Mahomet to drink wine,
intoxicate themselves with opium. It is said, that some will
cat more than an ounce in a day. We have seen, that nothing
«o efFectually preserves health and prevents disease, as maintain-,
ing the tone and regular motions of the digestive organs ; and
'there is no drug in common use, which renders them so tor-
pid, and which so effectually stagnates their functions as opium.
cAfter destroying the eneigy of the stomach, it undermines the
powers of all the othci organs in succession, even to the orgaa
,of thoBghu Travellers inform us, that the visage and general ap-^
pearance of the opium-eaters in Turkey are the most disgusting
imaginable ; even worse than our most abandoned rum-drinkers..
•Some of these miserable Turks have however mind enough left:

lAbyssinlans at this clay, he allowed them to eat any thing, that h,TijA passed
■through fie ; nicaninp whatever had undergone the ]>rocess of cookery. A
century or two after his death, the chemists of liis country discovered the art
lof drawing ardent spirits from rice by distillation. When tliese mahonietan*
.■were reproached for intoxicating themselves with this spirit, which they called
mrracy they replied, that // hud passed through fire, and was therefore agreeable
to the laws of Mahomet, as expressed in the Koran.

* (J A I. EN was the first of the Greek writers, who mentions opium. It wat
Init little used anionp the antients. PamrtUvs and Sllvius de la B»'n brought it,
ipt« vogue ki Eurv<pe. S^d^i^ham usod it first iii <mall pox..

n

>?b destroy themselves by the dagger, to prevent living or ratlicr
hreathltig a few years longer in a state of confirmed idiotism, which
is the fate of most of them during tlie latter years of their exist-
ence. Thus much for opium : but what shall we say of M-

cetiana* or our beloved Tobacco ?

With wliat caution should a man proceed In attacking a £».-
rourite of the people ? A prudent man, one who wishes to sail
quietly down the popular stream, would be disposed rather to
flatter and applaud the object of their affections. But an hon-
est man, who differs a little from him, commonly designated as
« prudent one, can never flatter, where he feels a friendship. He
wilj, give die true character of a dangerous inm.ate, and warn his
friend of the consequences of cherishing a viper In his bosom.
Yon already perceive, that although we would give *' fair play"
«ven to a treacherous enemy, yet Tobacco has done and is secret-
ly doing too much mischief to expect any more from us, than a
jevere trial and rigorous justice.

The great Linn^us has beside his celebrated ari'ijic'ial classi-
fication given us a natural one. In his natural arrangement he
has placed Tobacco In the class Lur'id^ ; which signifies pale,
gastly, livid, dismal, and fatal. To the same ominous class be-

* NicoTiANA, SO called from "Jjcolms Nicotim, ambassador to the court of
Portugal from Francis II. king of France. Nicoilus bought some seeds of
this plant from a Dutchman in 1560, who had just brought them from Ame-
rica. From this seed the plant was produced in France. Sir Francis Druie
carried it to England ; and Sir IValhr Jialcigh first brought it into fashion.
The dried plant was afterwards imported in great plenty from Tobago,
and hence it obtained the name of Tubacco.

Linnjcus places this genus of vegetables in the first section of his fifth
class, which contains those plants, whose flowers have five stamina and one
style, which expressed in botanical language is Pentandria, Monogynia, 1'his
genus has eleven species ; one of which is called Hyoscyawus from its agreeing
in several of its characters with the deleterious henbane.

Nicholas Monardus a German has written a folio on the virtues of tobacco. It
is doubtless a valuable medicine, especially in cases where the Digiijlis has
been used without success. An English physician, Dr. Fowler, used a tinc-
ture of tobacco in 52 cases of dropsy, and found it efficacious in 49 of tliem,
The same physician found it very beneficial in Dysuria- from gravci ^
k«ve u«cd it in sucfi casoR witli sati^fRctiot.

^4

Jong Foxglove, Henbane, Deadly-nightsliaJc, and another poi*
sonous plant, bearing the tremendous name of Atropa, one of the
Furies, Let us examine one of them, viz. Tobacco, its qualities*
and its efFects on the human constitution.

VvHien Tobacco is for the first time taken hito the mouth, \t
creates nausea and extreme disgust. If swallowed it excites vio*
lent convulsions of the stomach and of the bowels, to eject the
poison either upward or downward. If it be not very speedil/
and entirely ejected, it produces great anxiety, vertigo, faint*
Hess, and prostration of all the senses ; and in many instances
death has followed* The oil of this plant is one of tlie strong-
est of vegetable poisons, insomuch that we know of no anin^al,
that can resist its mortal eifects* These are, without exaggera-
tion, some of the lurid qualities of our beloved tobacco. Let ui
now see, if it can be agreeable to the laws of the animal oecono-i
my, or consonant to common sense, that a plant witli such quali-*
ties can act otherwise than detrirasntal to the tender constitutions
of young persons.

Tlie human organs are endowed v/ith a faculty of selecting
certain wholesome articles, and our digestive apparatus of assimi-
lating and changing them into our own nature and substance.
Beside this nutritive faculty our organs are endowed with a re*
pulsive one, with certain instincts or perceptions, by which they
reject whatever is unwholsome or pernicious to our well being*
These powers and faculties, purely instinctive, are more or less
possessed by every healthy animal. Man endued witli rea^oa
has these instincts in less perfection, than the brutes.

The organs of the senses are so many guards or centlnels,
placed at those avenues, v\'liere deatli is most likely to enter. For
illustration let us suppose a man cast ashore on some uninhabit-
ed island, and roaming among unknown fruits and herbs with a
desire to satisfy his hunger ; he knows not whether, what h?

25

finds be wholesome or poisonous. What naturally follows ? The
first examination, which the vegetable undergoes, is tliat of die
iye ; if it incur its displeasure by looking disagreeable and for-
bidding, even this may induce him to throw it away ; but if it be
agreeable to the sense of seeing, it is next submitted to the
Examination of the smell, which not unfrequently discovers latent
mischief concealed fVom the sight ; if not displeasing to the siglitj
nor disagreeable to the smell) he readily submits It to the scruti-
ny of the next guard, the tongue ; and if the taste too approbate
the choice, he no longer hesitates, but eating it, conveys it Into
his stomach and intestines ; botli of which, like faithful body
guards are endowed with a nice perception and prompt action,
by which, if what was eaten as wholesome food, should notwith-
standing all the former examinations still possess a latent quali-
ty, injurious to life, the stomach is stimulated to reject it upward,
or tlie intestines to expel it downwards. These internal percep-
tions and consequent exertions are the first and most simple acts
of nature, being purely Instinctive, constituting what physicians
call the " Vis medlcatrlx natuvit" or reaction of the system.*

Let us suppose, that oiir hungry adventurer had fallen on
the tobacco plant ; he would find nothing forbidding in its ap-*
pearance ; to his smell It •would be rather ungrateful ; to his
taste so nauseating, that it is surprizing, how the same man evei^
ventured to taste green tobacco twice ; but if taken into his sto-
inach, convulsions, fainting, and a tempoiary loss of his senses
follow ; accompanied with violent and nasty operations. If that,
Which is wholesome, affect the senses of animals with pleasure,
and invite therfi to convert it into their own juices ; and if tliat,
which is unwholesome, excite disgust in smell, taste, and apj^c-
tite, then would Our adventurer rank this herb among poisons,
and note it as one of those, which nature forbade him to use.
Yet man by perverting his nature has learnt to love it ! anil

* 666 Mr. Mudge's essay on the Vis VlUt,
D

2S

"uheh perverted nature excites a desire, that appetitfe or desire li
juiordinate and ungovernable ; for the reaction or physical resist^
lince tu evil will, like dial of the moral, lessen in propor|:ion to
the repetition of the attacks ; and then those guards of health,}
already mentioned, deseit nature^ a,nd go over to the side of her.
enemy } and thus we see how intemperate drinking and immo-
derate smoking began their destructive career.

The f.rst effect of tobacco on those, who have surmounted
the natural abhorrence of it ; and who have not only learnt' tO
endure it, but even to love it ; and who have already commenced
the nasty custom of chewing or smoking, is either a waste or vJ-J
tiation of the saliva.

The saliva or spittle is secreted by a complex glandular ap^
paratus from the most refined arterial blood, and constant-
ly distils into the mouth in health ; and from the mouth into the
stomach at the rate of twelve ounces a day.* It very much re-
sembles the gastric juice in the stomach ; and its importance in
digestion may be imagined after listening to the words of the
great Boerhaave. " Whenever tlie saliva is lavishly S'pit away,
** we remove one of the strongest causes of hunger and digestion.
*-' The chyle prepared without this fluid is depraved, and tlia
♦' blood is vitiated for vrant of it. I once tried,"- sajs.tliis great
philosopher and consummate physician, *' an experiment on.my-f

V self, by spitting out all my saliva ; the consequence was, that

V I lost my appetite.f Hencti 'we see the pernicious, effects cf che^-^^
*.' Ing and smokitig tobacco. I am of opinion, that smoking tobetq^a^
*' is very pernicious to lean and hypochondriacal persons., by destroy-
" ing their appetite and weakening digestion. \\^hen this celc-
♦.* brated plant was first brought into use in Europe, it was cried
*' up for a certain antidote to hunger ; but it nvas soon observed^
♦' that the number of hypochondriacal and consumptive people

• Boerhaave's Academ. Lectures.

f Females who spin flax, and the manufacturers of straw-bonnets siifFer
froiu the same cause.

■»7

^^ <aiere p-eatly Increased ly Us use.''* The celebrated C'ji.lem
(lays, a constant chewiag of tobacco destroys the appetite by de-
l^rlvbg tlie constitution of too much saliva.f

One of the Kings of Spain was afflicted v\!th a very offen-
sive breath ; to remedy which the physicians advised his majesty
■to chew a composition of gum mastic, amhergrease, and otlur
perfumes ; the use of which occasioned a great expenditure of
sahva. The courtiers, either oixt of compliment tp their sove-
reign, or, what is x^oxc probable, from the. vanity of iniitating
their superiors, went very generally into the same custom. The
consequence was, that they, who followed tlie fashion with most
ardour, lost their appetites, and became emaciated, and consump-
tions increased so fast among, them, that the practice was forbid-
den by royal edict.

Some do not eject the saliva ; but prefer swallowing the nasty
mixture, which seldom fails to induce falntness, palpitations of tlie
heart, trembhng of the limbs, and sooner or later some serious
chronical inconvenience.

After what has been said, who can doubt of the bad effects
of constant application of pov/dered tobacco to the delicate mem-
brane of the nose ; especially if they know, what a thin partition
divides the olfactory cavity from the brain ?j:

I have been a Professor in this University twenty three years,
and can say, as a physician, that I never observed so many palid
faces, and so many marks of declining health ; nor ever knew
so many hectical habits and consumptive affections, as of late
years ; and I trace this alarming inroad on your young consti-
tutions principally to the pernicious custom of smoFui^ Cigarrs.^

* Boerhaave Academ. Lectures, f. Cullen's Materia Medica.

\ Too constant use of stronj^ j«7/^brought on a disorder ofthe head, which
was tliought to have shortened the life of a celebrated divine and accomplished
gentleman ; " cujus etiam a lccua m-.'-lk dulcioh fluebat oratio."

§ Cigarr, from the Spanisli Ciira/ro, ;i little roll or tube of tobacco ; Taia-
tl folia in tiihiiliim coimoliitc. A cigarr is a leaf of tobacco formed into a small-
twisted roll, somewhat larger than a pipe stem, of about 6 inches long. T!fie
«moke is conveyed through the winding folds, which prevent ic from expand-
ing ; there is however a small aperture made through the middle by a wire.
The cigarr preceded the invention of the pipe. The best come from the Ha-,
vanna; those"mgst esteemed arc made in the conveatii.

It IS allowed by all, that since the foundation of this college
die custom of smoking never was so general ; it is conceded by
all, that individuals never pushed the fashion to such excess ; and
it is confessed by all, that the inhabitants of this place never ap-
peared so palid, languid, and unhealthy. I will not say with
some, that symptoms of languor have been discernible in your,
public performances ; nor am I disposed to attribute it wholly
to the causes mentioned in this lecture. I believe some of you
study more, than is consistent with health ; and exercise less,
than is necessary for persons of your age. I feel a particular
solicitude for such worthy characters as become sickly by
indiscreet diligence ; and I entreat them to consider, that the
habit of smoking increases muscular indolence. Nor is this all—
Smoking creates an unnatural thirst, and leads to the use of spi-
ritous liquors. I will not vouch for the truth of the common ob-
servation, that great smokers are generally tipplers. They ap-
pear to be however different strands of the same rope.

Do you not Gentlemen, see clearly, that this nasty, idle
custom includes the insidious effects of indolence ; tlie deleteri-
j-ous effects of a powerful narcotic fumigation ; and the perni-
cious effects, consequent to the use of ardent and vinous spirits j
(destructive agents to men, but which act with redoubled force on
the more susceptible frames of youth. I appeal to experience.
I ask whether he, who indulges himself in this way, does not a-
wake in the morning hot, restless, and dissatisfied with himself ?
The sound of the bell grates his nerves. Even the
•' Prime cheerer, light,
" Of all material beings first and best,"*

is an unwelcome intruder. He dresses witli languor and fret-
fulness ; his mouth is clammy and bitter ; his head aehes, and hjs
stomach is uneasy, till composed a little by some warm tea or
coffee. After stretching and yawning, he tries to numb his irk-
some feelings by a c'lgarr and a glass of wine, or a little diluted
bjrandy. These disagreeable sensations will however come zx[^

•TUOMI'SOI^.

go through the course of the day in spite of all his so}X)ilfic3. By
evening a handful of clgarrs, a few glasses of wine 5:c. remove
by their stronger stimulus tliese troublesome sensations ; when
he tumbles into bed, and rises next morning with similar feelings,
and pursues the same course to get rid of them. Does this look
like a faithful extract from the diary of " a Blood ?"'

I am entirely convinced, that smoking and chev.-ing injures
ultimately the hearing, smell, taste, and teeth. " Good teelh^' say^
Hippocrates, " conduce to long I'lfi'^ ; because he, who does not
masticate his food properly, and mix it thoroughly with a du(j
portion of saliva, will find his digestion fail ; and this failure
will gradually open the avenues to death.

The practice of smoking is productive of indolence, and tends
to confirm the lazy in tlieir laziness. Instead of exercising in
the open air, as formerly, you sit dov/n before large fires and
smoke tobacco. This hot fumigation opens the pores of the
head, throat, neck, and chest ; and you pass out in a reeking
sweat into a damp, cold atmosphere ; the patulent pores are
suddenly closed ; hence arise disorders of the head, throat, and
lungs. These causes, cooperating with those, already mention-
ed, produce those hectical symptoms and consumptive com-
plaints, that have been multiplying among you to an alaiming
degree ; for this nasty custom includes the destructive effects of
indolence, and the pernicious effects of the too frequent use of vi-
jious and ardent spirits ; agents, destructive to full grown men j
but which act witli redoubled force on the more susceptible
frames of young gentlemen in the spring of hfe.

Some have said, and the r^bservation carries with it a hand-
some compliment, " that smoking cannot be an evil custom see-
ing most of the clergy folio v/ it." I am mortified that such
authority can be adduced to oppose our advice. I will never-
tlieless venture to warn you, who expect to be cloathed with the
sacred function against this inconvenient practice, until you are

30

At least fifty years of age. As a sedentary man advances in life,
lie perspires less, while his lungs labour more. There is an ^lc-
fumulation of viscid phlegm among the inert and almost insen-
sible solids of the lungs in elderly people, which in our coW
months, especially in February and March, produces a. kind of
i'jronic catarrh or humoral asthma ; for which srnoting is bene?
ficial. Here tobacco is a safe and efficacious pectoral. There
is ho vvever a 4oleful difference between the case of a man of sixty
five taking three or four pipes of tobacco in twenty four hours,
and a boy of seventeen, who uses ten or a doxcn cigarrs in that
time. In one the ctAd and inert iibre is w^irmed and animated
to throA^ off an offensive load ; in the other it is adding fuel to
fire ; and irritating glands already sufficiently stimulated by
his youthful nature.

* The gentlemen of the clergy drink spai-ingly even of wine,
but many, who indulge in smoking, drink enormous quantities
pf hot tea,f which Boerhaave observes to be one of the perni-
cious consequences of sm.oking tobacco ; aa it assists to bring on
hypochondriac and other dismal disorders. By forbearing to do what.
may innocently be done, we may add hourly new vigour to reso-
lution. I can hardly believe there ever was a rigidly virtuous
man, who became a slave to tobacco. To set the mind above
the appetite, says the British moralist,t is tlie end of abstinence ;

* These paragraphs have been added since the delivery of the lecture.

f CoFF.tE and 'I'ea are articles friendly to morals, seeinj;^ they frequently
exclude the use of spirituous liquors. The French and Spaniards take coffee
directly after dinner instead of wine ; a custom, worthy of imitation. Aphy-
eician is often asked, which is most wholesome tea or coiTce ? Either of them,
inade very strong, must be injurious ; both, certainly suspend the inclination
to sleep, and Impede digestion. Tea or coffee of moderate strength, and
drank with discretion, is found by experience friendly to the human constitu-
tion. Old. smokers will sometimes drink a dozen dishes of tea,' and destroy
thereby the tone of their stomachs. Tuung smokers also suffer from the same
cause. One of thsj most speedy methods of weakening the stomach is to smoke
cigarrs, and at the same time jir;7/ tea or coffee, and eat an enormous pile of
toast, swimming in butter. We have said already, that the use of the saliva
was to assist with the bile to mix butter and fat with the watery part of our
food ; but in such a mca< the saliva is either spit out or vitiated ; and the In-
congruous mass is left to sour, because the principle mean of assimilation is
withdrawn.

\ Johnson.

5*

ind abstinence is the groundwork of virtue. For want of deny*
ing early and inflexibly, we may be inticed into the recesses of
iodulgence, and sloth and despondency may close die passage
to our return

* I hope that those of the clergy, who follow remarkably
this custbm, \vill receive kindly, what I utter seriously, respect-
fully, and affectionately. Strengthen, I beseech yon, the hands
0l^ these youth, to relinquish a habit, which you know requires
sbmc exertion. If you want aiu excitement, look at that con-
s'limpdte young man, whose emaciated figure strikes you with
libiror J see his forehead covered with drops orsWeat ; his checks
painted with a livid crimson ; and his eyes sunk; his pulse
quick and tremulous j his nails bending over the ends of
his fingers ; and the palms of his hands dry and hot to the touch.
His breath offensive, quick, and laborious ; his cough incessant,
scarcely allowing him time to tell yOuy diat he smoked eiglirrs
widiout number, drank brandy and water, and wine : played
daily on the ilute\J ; and coming one night from a crouded .mu-»
Seal meeting, caught cold ; which being neglected, brouglii on
a cough, short breath, expectoration of purulent m.atter, and
night sweats ; wliicli soon hunied him chi to what you stcrf

Of the seemlinas or decency o( the practice of smoking and
chewing tobacco more may be said, than you will have patience to
hear. Boerhaave observes, tliat "it is allojyed by the univer-
sal consent of the more civilized nations, diat spitting in compa-
ny is both unmannerly and nasty ; insomuch tliat among die in-
habitants of die East it was held in the highest detestation and
abhorrence !" A physician should never use tobacco in a/ivform,
as some weak patients v/ill faint at the smell.;]:

§ Playing on wind instruments as well as singing are pernicious to persons
predisposed to consumption.

f Compare this witJi Fothergill's description of consumption in Lett-
som's edition of his works.

t The custom of smoking hns for a considerahle time past teen totally ban-
ished from all polite companits in England. It is there confined to taverns
«tod alehouses.

32

^he fashion of smoking tobacco was introduced Into Erig--
land by Sir Walter Raleigh in the reign of James I. The cus-
tom was followed by almost all the nobility and high officers of
the realm to the great dissatisfaction of the fdstidious monarchi
So universally prevalent was this fashion, that his majesty could
not readily find any one to write or preach against it. He there*
fore wrote a tract himself, which he entitled " a counter blast to To-'
lacco,'" a copy of which may be seen in the library of this Uni-,
versity. After exposing in strong language the unhealthinesfi
and offensiveness of this practice, he closes with this Royal
Counter jilast. — " // is a custom, loathsome to the Eye, hateful ti}
*' the i^osE, harmful to the Brain, dan^eroux tn thfi T.ungs ; and in
«* the black t stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible sty-t
*' gian smoke of the pit, that is bottomless /"

To conclude. The moral, to be deduced from our whole

Lecture is, the necessity of aimiding all predisposing causes to Ner-
Tous DISORDERS ; and Obviating the remote causes of Consump-
tion. Quit then this pernicious habit, I entreat you;- Take

all your cigaiTs and tobacco, and in some calm evening carry
them on to the common, and there sacrifice them to health, cleanli-
ness, and decontm But, should perversity withstand all the ar-

gaments adduced we have yet one in reserve,' that is irresistible.-
I'he dangerous tendency of these practices no one can doubt i
tlierefore abandon the custom, lest'you pierce with ANGtfisH

tHB HSARTS or YOUR AFFECTIONATE PARENTS I

tINIS*

Cleaned ^ Oiled

^Cpf<2,xi bcr \^^(^

JAN 3 i 1934