“Acrolein is one of the _most terrible drugs_ in its effect on
the human body. The _burning_ of ordinary _cigarette paper always
produces acrolein_. That is what makes the smoke so irritating.
I really believe that it often _makes boys insane_. We sometimes
develop acrolein in this laboratory in our experiments with
glycerine. One whiff of it from the oven drove one of my assistants
out of the building the other day. I _can hardly exaggerate the
dangerous nature of acrolein_, and yet that is what a man or a boy is
dealing with every time he smokes an ordinary Cigarette.”
“_The blood of persons poisoned by the inhalation of illuminating
gas_, rich in carbonic oxide, is found to be _coagulated_ and
_indurated_, and may be pulled in strings from the _veins and
arteries_.
“Owing to the loose structure of the Cigarette, its combustion is
modified and destructive distillation proceeds with combustion, and
owing to the incompleteness of oxidation, carbonic oxide is largely
produced instead of carbonic acid. This carbonic oxide inhaled into
the lungs enters the blood unresisted, and the damage it does is
in direct proportion to the quantities inhaled. _Carbonic oxide
when inhaled in small quantities produces faintness, dizziness,
palpitation of the heart, and a feeling of great heaviness in the
feet and legs._ These are exactly the effects of the Cigarette and
the depression and nervousness which follow as a reaction make the
victim crave some balm or tonic for his malaise. He is then led to
consume the drug in ever increasing quantities.”