One head of a public school said he could always tell when a boy commenced to use tobacco by the record of his recitations. Professor Oliver, of the Annapolis Academy, said he could indicate the boy who used tobacco by his absolute inability to draw a clean, straight line. The deleterious effects of tobacco have become so clearly apparent that we find its sale to minors is prohibited in France, Germany, and various sections of this country. It is somewhat a question if, at the present time, the race is not doing itself more injury by its use of tobacco than it is with alcohol, because of its more universal use, particularly by youth, and because of the respectability of the habit, which comes of its use by a certain intelligent part of the race, including teachers of morals and physics, and even temperance reformers. There is a widespread sentiment in existence that it is not a respectable thing to be even partly paralyzed by alcohol, but how few there are who consider narcosis as in any way connected with the use of tobacco. Its effect is more diffused and masked, and is not so acutely serious in individual cases, but through its interference with vital activity, tobacco is probably more generally injurious to the race than alcohol.
The editorial fiat of "too long" prevents a full exposition of the subject, but, in closing, let me say I hear millions of tobacco users ask, "Why, then, was this plant given to man, if its general effects are so decidedly evil?" The question presupposes design in creation. Without subscribing to this theory, or pretending to have solved the mystery of the presence of evil in the world, the answer may be suggested that the overcoming of many seductive evils becomes to man a means of his progressive higher development. Of one thing I am convinced, that the physical development and welfare of man is interfered with in strict sequence to his consumption of substances that are unnecessary for his nutrition—stimulants and narcotics inclusive.—Medical Record.
ACETIC ACID AS A DISINFECTANT.
Dr. F. Engelmann, in Cent. f. Gyn., claims that acetic acid possesses equally as good antiseptic properties as carbolic acid; in fact, that it is to be preferred, as it is completely harmless, even if used in concentrated solutions, and that it is a valuable hæmostatic, an advantageous addition particularly in obstetrics. Another important property is its ease of transition into the tissues, which, according to Engelmann's experiments, is by far greater than that of all the other antiseptics. Of bichloride it is well known that it forms an insoluble combination with albumen, and can therefore act only on the surface, while acetic acid extends into the deeper tissues with ease.
Acetic acid also affects the metal of the instruments, but not as severely as the bichloride; the forceps, for instance, may be placed for a quarter of an hour in an irrigator filled with a three per cent. solution of acetic acid without being injured.
A pleasant effect of acetic acid is that it softens and lubricates the skin. The author generally used a three per cent. solution; at times he has made use of a five per cent. solution, which would easily cause a painful burning at sore places, so that he only used the latter strength in septic cases, as the three per cent. solution proved to be a satisfactory antiseptic for general purposes.