universal among all the tribes and beyond all question the custom of
using the herb had its origin among them. The traditions of the
Indians all confirm its ancient source; they considered the plant as a
gift from the Great Spirit for their comfort and enjoyment and one
which the Great Spirit also indulged in, consequently with them
smoking partook of the character of a moral if not a religious act.
The use of tobacco in sufficient quantities to produce intoxication
seemed to be a favorite remedy for most diseases among them and was
administered by their doctors or medicine-men in large quantities.
Benzoni gives an engraving of their mode of inhaling the smoke and
says of its use:--

[Footnote 7: From 1541 to 1556.]

"In La Espanola, when their doctors wanted to cure a sick
man, they went to the place where they were to administer
the smoke, and when he was thoroughly intoxicated by it, the
cure was mostly effected. On returning to his senses he told
a thousand stories of his having been at the council of the
gods, and other high visions."

It can hardly be supposed that while the custom of using tobacco among
the Indians in both North and South America was very general and the
mode of use the same, that the plant grown was of the same quality in
one part as in another. While the rude culture of the natives would
hardly tend to an improvement in quality; the climate being varied
would no doubt have much to do with the size and quality of the plant.
This would seem the more probable for as soon as its cultivation began
in Virginia by the English colonists it had successful rivals in the
tobacco of the West Indies and South America. Robertson says:--

"Virginia tobacco was greatly inferior to that raised by the
Spaniards in the West Indies and which sold for six times as
much as Virginia tobacco."[8]

[Footnote 8: West India tobacco sold for 18 shillings
per pound and Virginia for 3 s.]

But not only has the name tobacco and the implements employed in its
use caused much discussion but also the origin of the plant.

Some writers affirm that it came from Asia and that it was first grown
in China having been used by the Chinese long before the narcotic
properties of opium were known. Tatham in his work on Tobacco says of
its origin in substantial agreement with La Bott:--

"It is generally understood that the tobacco plant