“Tumbeki is the name under which an article of regular commerce between Persia and Turkey is mentioned in the consular reports, especially in that for Trebizonde.
“Two or three years ago an inquiry was made at this institution concerning the nature and botanical source of umbeki, and the only information I was then able to give was that in the ‘Treasury of Botany’ tumbeky is stated to be the narcotic leaf of a species of lobelia.
“From its frequent occurrence in the Blue Books in the same list with tobacco, and from the large quantities mentioned as an export from Trebizonde, my correspondent suggested that it was probably something used for smoking like tobacco. In the hope that tumbeki might prove to be some drug possessing important narcotic or possible medicinal properties, I wrote to Mr. A. Biliotti, Consul at Trebizonde, for information. In reply, he forwarded samples of tumbeki of different growths and qualities. This proved on examination to be unquestionably some kind of tobacco, and being puzzled to know why it figured in the Blue Books as a distinct article, I asked Mr. Thomas Christy, F.L.S., to make inquiries for me in Persia. He received the following note through Mr. Zanni, the well-known chemist at Constantinople, from whom I received the following information:—
“‘There are three qualities of the teymbeki, all derived from the Nicotiana persica.
“‘1. Shiraz teymbeki, valued at twenty gold piastres per oke.[[A]]
“‘2. Kechan teymbeki, valued at ten gold piastres.
“‘3. Teheran teymbeki, equal in value to No. 2.
“‘The Shiraz is the best quality, the leaves are four decimetres long and half a decimetre wide. The leaves of the two other qualities are not so large. The quantity of alkaloid in the leaves of teymbeki is more than in the leaves of Nicotiana Tabacum; it is much used in Constantinople, but more so in Egypt, Syria, and particularly in Persia. Teymbeki is smoked in a special apparatus known as the narghileh.[[B]] The apparatus is found in every coffee-house and even in a great number of private houses. It resembles somewhat the wash bottle used in laboratories for washing filters with distilled water, but is often made of metal. The teymbeki is placed in a small reservoir on the top of the flask and burns in contact with a piece of incandescent charcoal. The vapour is drawn through the tube, which passes to the bottom of the water and collects above it, whence it is inhaled through the longer tube.[[C]] It is in fact a water-pipe.’
“Having ascertained then that tumbeki was a species of tobacco, I sought for further confirmation of the statement that it is the produce of N. persica, and wrote on the subject to Professor Hausknecht, who is well known as one of the best authorities on the botany of Persia. He kindly replied as follows:—
“‘Tumbeki is the produce of Nicotiana rustica, and is almost exclusively used for the water-pipes called kalian or narghileh. The plant is cultivated throughout the whole of Persia, especially in Ispahan and Shiraz, whence the best kind comes.’