Of the properties attributable to the plant in the _Materia Medica_, a
variety of opinions prevail, and have done, indeed, since its first
appearance in the civilized portion of the globe. It certainly cannot but
strike the reader as a fact to be very greatly lamented, that science
should be so unfixed, even in this much boasted-of-enlightened aera, that
some medical men should be found to ascribe every bad and pernicious
quality to the use of tobacco; and others, equally celebrated for their
professional knowledge, recommend it as a panacea for many ills.
Reflection makes this still more dreadful, when we consider these are the
men to whose abilities we are frequently compelled to look up, for the
preservation of our healths and lives. It would be well, indeed, if this
lamentable difference of opinion among the facult existed only in
reference to our present subject.
We shall now, however, proceed to note some of the ideas of the learned
that have been expressed concerning the qualities of the herb, in
pharmacy, and quote our first specimen in the following poem, by the
famous Dr. Thorious, who most sagely recommends it as an antidote for
every evil under the sun.