[17] “Tobacco,” King James farther observes, “is the lively image and pattern of hell, for it hath, by allusion, in it all the parts and vices of the world, whereby hell may be gained; to wit, first, it is a smoke; so are all the vanities of this world. Secondly, it delighteth them that take it; so do all the pleasures of the world delight the men of the world. Thirdly, it maketh men drunken and light in the head; so do all the vanities of the world, men are drunken therewith. Fourthly, he that taketh tobacco cannot leave it; it doth bewitch him; even so the pleasures of the world make men loath to leave them; they are, for the most part, enchanted with them. And, farther, besides all this, it is like hell in the very substance of it, for it is a stinking loathsome thing, and so is hell.” And, moreover, his majesty declares, that “were he to invite the devil to a dinner, he should have three dishes; first, a pig; second, a poll of ling and mustard; and, third, a pipe of tobacco for digestion.”
[18] It appears from Mr. Brodie’s experiments, that the essential oil of tobacco operates very differently from the infusion. The former acts instantly on the heart, suspending its action, even while the animal continues to inspire, and destroying life by producing syncope. The latter appears to operate solely on the brain, leaving the circulation unaffected.
[19] The doses in these experiments, were from five to seven quarts.
[20] Journal Générale de Médicine, lix. xxiv. p. 224.
[21] Gazette de Santé, 11 Thermidor, an xv. p. 508.
[22] Von Hammer’s Hist. of the Assassins.
[23] Toxicologie Générale.
[24] The following are the grounds on which he supports his doctrine:—“1. In experiments where animals have been killed by the injection of spirits into the stomach, I have found this organ to bear the marks of great inflammation, but never any preternatural appearances whatever in the brain. 2. The effects of spirits taken into the stomach, in the last experiment, were so instantaneous, that it appears impossible that absorption should have taken place before they were produced. 3. A person who is intoxicated frequently becomes suddenly sober after vomiting. 4. In the experiments which I have just related, I mixed tincture of rhubarb with the spirits, knowing, from the experiments of Mr. Home and Mr. William Brande, that this (rhubarb) when absorbed into the circulation, was readily separated from the blood by the kidneys, and that very small quantities might be detected in the urine by the addition of potash; but though I never failed to find urine in the bladder, I never detected rhubarb in it.”—Phil. Trans. of the Roy. Soc. of Lond. 1811. Part I., p. 178.
[25] Essay on Drunkenness.
[26] Zoonomia.