se of any article, which causes an exhaustion of the
nervous power, beyond what is necessarily occasioned by unstimulating
food and drink, and the ordinary physical agents, as heat, cold, light,
together with mental and corporeal exertion, &c., is not only useless
but hurtful, tending directly to produce disease and premature decay.
Such is tobacco. Ample evidence of this is furnished by a departure,
more or less obvious, from healthy action, in the organic, vital
movements of a large majority of tobacco consumers.

From the _habitual use_ of tobacco, in either of its forms of snuff,
cud, or cigar, the following symptoms may arise; a sense of _weakness_,
_sinking_, or _pain_ at the pit of the _stomach_; _dizziness_ or _pain_
in the _head_; occasional _dimness_ or _temporary loss of sight_;
_paleness_ and _sallowness_ of the _countenance_, and sometimes
_swelling_ of the _feet_; an _enfeebled state_ of the _voluntary
muscles_, manifesting itself sometimes by _tremors_ of the _hands_,
sometimes by _weakness_, _tremulousness_, _squeaking_ or _hoarseness_
of the _voice_, rarely a _loss_ of the _voice_; _disturbed sleep_,
_starting_ from the early _slumbers_ with a _sense_ of _suffocation_
or the feeling of _alarm_; _incubus_, or _nightmare_; _epileptic_ or
_convulsion fits_; _confusion_ or _weakness_ of the _mental faculties_;
_peevishness_ and _irritability_ of _temper_; _instability_ of
_purpose_; seasons of great _depression_ of the _spirits_; long _fits_
of unbroken _melancholy_ and _despondency_, and, in some cases, _entire_
and _permanent mental derangement_.[2]

[Footnote 2: I have recently seen two cases; one caused by the
excessive use of snuff, the other by the chewing of tobacco
and swallowing the saliva.]

The animal machine, by regular and persevering reiteration or habit,
is capable of accommodating itself to impressions made by poisonous
substances, so far as not to show signs of injury under a superficial
observation, provided they are slight at first, and gradually increased,
but it does not hence follow that such impressions are not hurtful.
It is a great mistake, into which thousands are led, to suppose that
every unfavorable effect or influence of an article of food, or drink,
or luxury, must be felt immediately after it is taken. Physicians often
have the opportunity of witnessing this among their patients.

The confirmed dyspeptic consults his physician for pain or wind in the
stomach, accompanied