They are soaked in alkalies, boiled in acids, and sufficient nicotine is extracted to kill five men not hardened in the tobacco service.
Thus, and only thus, could John have been purified from his vile habit and its results, and fitted for decent male society, female society, and Christian society. There is said to be one other place where John can possibly have the nicotine of seven years’ deposit taken out of him. It is a very warm place, and the principal chemical ingredient used is said to be sulphuric, and kept up to a boiling point by means of infernal great fires.
Delicious Morsels.
Nicotine is the active principle of tobacco, expressed chemically thus: C10 H8 N. One fourth of a drop will kill a rabbit, one drop will kill a large dog. It is a virulent poison, the intoxicating principle of prepared tobacco. It is not in the natural leaf. It results from fermentation. Two little boys were overheard discussing tobacco merits and demerits. One was in favor of tobacco, the other “anti.” “Why,” said anti, “it’s so poisonous that a drop of the oil, put on a dog’s tail, will kill a man in a minute.” It is the opium in the best Havanas which enslaves the smokers more than the tobacco. Those cigars, also American manufactured cigars, are dipped in a solution of opium. It is said that twenty thousand dollars’ worth of opium is used annually in one cigar manufactory in Havana.
The Street Nuisance.
“I knew, by the smoke that so lazily curled
From his lips, ’twas a loafer I happened to meet;
And I said, “If a nuisance there be in the world,
’Tis the smoke of cigars on a frequented street.”
“It was night, and the ladies were gliding around,
And in many an eye shone the glittering tear;
But the loafer puffed on, and I heard not a sound,
Save the sharp, barking cough of each smoke-stricken dear.”
THE SMOKER.
Here is a “blow” from Horace Greeley. “I do not say that every chewer or smoker is a blackguard; but show me a blackguard who is not a lover of tobacco, and I will show you two white blackbirds.” Good enough for Horace.