EFFECTS OF SMOKING. Opinions of a Physician who Believes in the Weed.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 232, 10 December 1887, Page 12

EFFECTS OF SMOKING. Opinions of a Physician who Believes in the Weed.

Since the death of young Russell Knevals, attributed to the too free use of cigarettes, the question of the injuries resulting from the use of tobacco has again received general attention ; and as usual tho medical faculty arc far from being unanimous in their opinions. Many of its most distinguished members, particularly tho.se who are more conservative, persist in condemning the use of the weed in any form, declaring it to be a slow but sure poison, tho effects of which arc sure to be manifested sooner or later, and in different degrees, among those who are slaves to it, and even in the cases of those who use it temperately. These gentlemen make no distinction between pipe-smoking, cigars, cigarettes, or chewing, and denounce them all alike as being deadly in the effect. Others, among whom are many who stand in the highest lank, are equally positive in saying that tobacco, when used moderately, has no deloteiious influence, and some even go the length of declining it to be, under certain conditions, a soother of the nerves and an aid of digestion. Tho condemnation of cigarettes under any and all circumstances is pretty general, however, and those who are engaged in tho crusade against them point to the case of young Knevals as a sad but (.rue example of tho result which raibfc certainly follow their uses, and assert that public attention was only attracted to his case out of thousands of similar ones because of the peculiar circumstances attending his death. A well-known physician of New York, who is a moderate smoker himself, and, therefore, not prejudiced like so many others against the use ot a -thing of which he himself has no poisonal knowledge, gave a reporter his views on smoking. Ho said : "lam now about 60 years old, and have been practising in this vicinity for nearly thirty years ]>uring that time I have used tobacco almost daily, moderately, to be s>ure, but still enough to give me some experience of its effects. JDming tho same period, too, I have been called upon to attend a large number of patient.-* who have used tobacco in every form — moderately and ! immoderately. Tho le^ult of what I have felt and seen leads me to these conclu1 sions : — " First, that there can be no doubt that fcmo'ung all the time ill undormino a man's constitution, and lay him open to disease, if it does not of itself lead to serious organic trouble. Beyond doubt, constant cigarette smoking is mo->t pernicious, and never fails to injure. I rank cigai.s next in hurtfulnejs and the pipe as the least harmful, though many put them the other way. But because the too free uso of tobacco is so dangerous, I do not think it fair to argue that the use of it at all is injurious in proportion. None bnfcci auks now argue in that way about wine. " In the second place, my experience goes to show thai", under pioper conditions, little, if any, harm can aiise from smoking. Those conditions are that a man .--hall not use the cigarette at all, that ho should not smoke before he 1 caches the age of 21, and that he should not smoke before noon. Theie can be no doubt that bo\s should not be allowed to smoke. Some pay it 'stunts' them, and others asciibe various evils to it. lam not prepared to say just what the effect on a boy is, but I have seen so many lads have their health and constitution ' permanently injured by smoking; that I am sure it has a very marked bad influence on them. A chief leason of this probably is that a boy has little, if any, discretion, and carries the thing to excess the amount of his smoking depending in most cases on his means of buying tobacco. In rcgaid to smoking after midday, I speak mostly fiom personal experience. I have neA'er known a cigar in the morning to set me up or soothe me. It always has a more or less irritating effect upon me, and I ha\e heaid the same from otheis. In the afternoon or evening, however, and especially after a hearty meal, a cigar has a soothing effect, and I believe on a full grown man its inilucnce is greater for good than evil. In the case of those who use the pipe, it is e\en better, I think. T would lather see a man smoke three cigars in the afternoon than one in the morning alter break fast. I don't believe that one, two. or even three cigar", smoked betwesn 2 o'clock in the afternoon and 8 or 9 o'clock at night, will do any man in good health any serious injury, and I have sometimes thought that they might actually do him good. Of course, it should always be borne in mind that with some men smoking does not agree, but those who are so constituted very quickly find it out, just as they do that certain kinds of food disagree with them. The trouble is, a great many persist in smoking even though it gives them no real pleasure, just because .so many others do it." I