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Man was not born with a cigar in his mouth, and it is not certain that the Nicotiana tabacum flourished in the Garden of Eden. But history proves the existence of an instinct among all races call it depraved, if you will, the fact remains leading them to employ narcotics. And narcotics all nations have sought and found. We venture to affirm that tobacco is harmless as any.
We think the light pipe-smoker will find a combination of German and Turkish smoking-tobaccoes a happy thought. The old smoker may secure the best union of delicacy and strength in the Virginia "natural leaf." Among the eight or ten species of the tobacco-plant now recognized by botanists, the Nicotiana tabacum and the Nicotiana rustica hold the chief place.
Some authorities hold that the present day Maryland tobacco is descended from the sweet-scented of the Colonial days, while others believe it to be a descendant of Oronoco. It seems quite possible that there was only one variety of Nicotiana tabacum when John Rolfe first began his experiments, and there is reason to believe that this first tobacco was sweet-scented.
I was now, and justly, as I think, satisfied of the conscientious exactness of my interpretation. It is as follows: THROUGH CHILD-OF-LAND-AND-WATER: that is, drew smoke through a reed stem. In other words, we have here a record of the first smoking of the herb Nicotiana Tabacum by a European on this continent. The probable results of this discovery are so vast as to baffle conjecture.
Method of Extraction from the Stomach. Use Stas-Otto process. Test. The contraction of the pupil which it causes. =Tobacco.= Nicotiana tabacum owes its poisonous properties to its alkaloid nicotine, a volatile, oily, amber-coloured liquid, with an acrid taste and ethereal odour; soluble in water, alcohol, ether, and chloroform.
L. It has the common qualities of the other sweet fruits, abating heat, quenching thirst, and promoting the grosser secretions; an agreeable syrup made from the juice is kept in the shops. The bark of the roots has been in considerable esteem as a vermifuge; its taste is bitter, and somewhat astringent. Lewis's Mat. Med. NICOTIANA Tabacum. TOBACCO. Leaves.
In honor of its sponsor, Botany has named the plant Nicotiana tabacum, and Chemistry distinguished as Nicotin its active alkaloid. Sir Francis Drake first brought tobacco to England about 1586. It owed the greater part of its early popularity, however, to the praise and practice of Raleigh: his high standing and character would have sufficed to introduce still more novel customs.
A complete story on the origin of the early varieties of tobacco would be a very significant contribution, since very little is known about them. Most writers agree that the tobacco cultivated by the English settlers was not the same Nicotiana rustica grown by the Indians, but Nicotiana tabacum, the type found growing in South America and the West Indies.
The pipe seems as inseparable as the Koran from the follower of Mahomet. Barely three centuries ago, then, the first seeds of the Nicotiana tabacum germinated in European soil: now, who shall count the harvests? Less than three centuries ago, Raleigh attracted a crowd by sitting smoking at his door: now, the humblest bog-trotter of Ireland must be poor indeed who cannot own or borrow a pipe.
The difference between these two types was profound, both in taste and size. The plant native to Virginia was small, growing to a height of only two or three feet, whereas Nicotiana tabacum grew from six to nine feet tall. As to taste, George Arents remarked, "the same difference in taste exists between these two species, as between a crab apple and an Albemarle pippin."
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