"I am unable to answer your question with exactness," said the Doctor, "for the simple reason that the matter is involved in obscurity. It is said by some historians that the sailors accompanying Columbus were one day greatly astonished at seeing smoke issuing from the mouths and nostrils of some of the natives, and they found, on investigation, that it was produced by the combustion of a fragrant herb or plant. On their return they introduced it into Spain and Portugal. In 1560 Jean Nicot was ambassador of France at the Court of Lisbon, and learned the use of tobacco from a merchant who had been in America. When he next went to France, he presented the weed to the queen, and it soon became known throughout Europe. From him it was called L'herbe Nicotienne, or "the Nicotian weed," and the name has come down to our times. Near the same period Sir Francis Drake introduced it into England, and Sir Walter Raleigh made it fashionable; so rapidly did the use of it spread that in less than twenty years nearly every class of society was addicted to it.
"Some writers contend that tobacco, or some similar plant, was smoked in Asia long before the discovery of America; in proof of this they assert that the pipe in nearly its present form is to be seen on many ancient sculptures; and it is certainly singular that a people so conservative as the Chinese and other Asiatics should have made the use of tobacco universal in the comparatively short period that has elapsed since its discovery in America. On the other hand, we can infer that it was not known in Asia as early as the eighth century, because the tales of the Arabian Nights, which are supposed to be a perfect picture of the customs of that time, make no mention of smoking."
"Does Marco Polo make any mention of it in his travels in Asia?" Fred asked. "If it had been known in his time, I think he would have been pretty certain to say something about it."
"I believe he makes no allusion to it," the Doctor responded; "and this fact is quoted by those who contend that the practice was of American origin. But, whatever the origin of smoking tobacco, the custom has spread over the whole globe, and prevails among savages no less than among the most civilized and enlightened nations. All classes of people, from highest to lowest, are smokers; and, though the practice has been the subject of severe penalties, it has continued to spread. Laws were passed against it by several governments. In Russia, smokers were punished by having a pipe-stem passed through the cartilage of the nose for their first offence; and for a second, they were ordered to be flogged to death. Sultan Amurath IV. ordered that all smokers should be strangled; and in Switzerland it was officially announced that the use of tobacco was one of the sins forbidden by the Ten Commandments. The Popes of Rome issued edicts against it; and one of them, Urban VII., decreed the excommunication of all who should use tobacco. King James wrote the famous 'Counterblast against Tobacco,' and other publications were made condemning the importation of Sir Walter Raleigh; but all to no purpose. The practice could not be put down; and to-day there is no article of luxury or dissipation that is so universally known as tobacco.
"There are about forty different varieties of tobacco described by botanists which are smoked, or chewed, or snuffed, in various parts of the world. By far the greater part of the tobacco used annually is smoked, and in some countries snuff-taking, like chewing the weed, is practically unknown. In nine cases out of ten in America the use of tobacco begins by smoking, and in other countries the proportion is probably a hundred times as great. The tobacco used in Asia and in some parts of Europe is much milder than that of America. England is the largest consumer of strong tobacco outside of the United States, and the revenue derived from it by the British custom-house goes far towards paying the expenses of the government.
PIPES OF ALL NATIONS.