Cigaret smoking is a time waster; that is, it breaks up the power of attention, as few smokers are satisfied with one cigaret and the mere physical act of lighting a fresh cigaret disturbs the continuity of thought and work. Dr. W. J. Mayo[49] calls attention to the fact that according to his observations research scholars who smoke cigarets have not done well.
Insurance Experience on Tobacco Smokers
Only one insurance company, the New England Mutual,[50] has published any experience on tobacco users. This covered a period of 60 years and a body of 180,000 policyholders, as follows:
| Abstainers. | Rarely Use. | Temperate. | Moderate. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tobacco, 59% | 71% | 84% | 93% |
| Alcohol, 57% | 72% | 84% | 125% |
[Q] The standard here used is the American Experience Table, which is largely an artificial table upon which premiums are based, but which provides for a much higher mortality than the average companies sustain. For example, the actual mortality of the New England Mutual in 1913 was 57 per cent. of the expected.
Interpretation
Fifty-nine per cent. of the expected mortality means that where, according to the premium tables, 100 were expected to die, only 59 actually died.
The general class of risks in this company were of excellent quality, as the figures show. Nevertheless, the abstainers exhibited a far lower mortality than that experienced by the general class.
Dr. Edwin Wells Dwight, who presented the figures, urged caution in their interpretation, suggesting that the low mortality among abstainers, both from alcohol and tobacco, might well be due to a more conservative habit of living. Furthermore, as the abstainers from alcohol were not separated from the abstainers from tobacco in this analysis a perfect comparison can not be made; but our knowledge of the toxic effects of both these narcotics and the preceding statistics of Doctor Pack justify us in assigning to tobacco a positively unfavorable effect.
Poisonous Effects