each home in our land to take the census. A
part of this census report consists of a table showing the disease of
which people died. It is from the census report that we know that
hundreds of people die every year from the use of alcohol.

=Danger to Health in beginning the Use of Strong Drink.=--A large
number of people take a drink of beer or wine occasionally because
they do not see that it hurts the body. No one expects to become a
steady drinker or a drunkard when he begins to drink. Reports show
that every drunkard begins his downward course by taking a few drinks
occasionally. Thousands of persons begin a drunkard's life every year
because the appetite leads them on gently until they become slaves and
cannot let drink alone.

CHAPTER XI

TOBACCO AND OTHER DRUGS WHICH INJURE THE HEALTH

[Illustration: FIG. 41.--The tobacco plant.]

=How Tobacco is Made.=--Tobacco is made from the leaves of the tobacco
plant. The plant may grow as tall as a man and bear more than a dozen
leaves. Each leaf is two or three times as large as your hand. The
seeds are planted in the springtime, and the plants are ready to be
cut in the autumn. Most of our tobacco is raised in the Southern
states and Cuba.

After cutting, the tobacco must be dried and cared for in a special
way to give it the right flavor. It is then sent to factories and made
into cigars, smoking tobacco, or chewing tobacco.

=How Tobacco is Used.=--Many million dollars are spent every year by
the people of our country for tobacco. Most of the tobacco is used in
smoking. Some men smoke it in pipes, while others smoke it in the form
of cigars or cigarettes.

Many men chew tobacco. When used in this way, something like licorice
is generally mixed with the tobacco to give it a more pleasant taste.
Sometimes the dry tobacco is ground into a fine powder called snuff.
This is used by both men and women.

=Tobacco contains a Poison.=--When boys chew or smoke tobacco for the
first time, it always makes them sick. Chewing or smoking for fifteen
minutes will make them grow dizzy and weak and feel so sick that they
must lie down for a long time.

The sickness is caused by a poison called _nicotine_ which is present
in all tobacco. Much of this poison may be soaked out by boiling the
tobacco in water. A cup of water in which a pipeful of tobacco has
been boiled will kill goldfish in an hour when poured into a gallon
jar of water with the fish. There is enough p