153. _The Use of Tobacco by the Elizabethan Ladies._--In _An
Introduction to English Antiquities, by James Eccleston, B.A._, 8vo.
1847, p. 306., the author, speaking of the ladies of the reign of
Elizabeth, has the following passage:
"It is with regret we add, that their teeth were at this time
generally black and rotten, a defect which foreigners attributed
to their inordinate love for sugar, but which may, perhaps, be
quite as reasonably ascribed to their frequent habit of taking the
Nicotian weed to excess."
Does the author mean to insinuate by the above, that the Elizabethan
ladies indulged in the "filthy weed" by "smoaking" or "chewing?" I have
always understood that the "Nicotian weed" _whitened_ the teeth rather
than _blackened_ them, but should be glad to be enlightened upon the
subject by some of your scientific readers.