By Raphael Thorious.
(_Translated into English by the Rev. W. Bewick._)
The herb which borrows Santa Croce's name,
Sore eyes relieves and healeth wounds; the same
Discusses the kings evil, and removes
Cancers and boils; a remedy it proves
For burns and scalds, repels the nauseous itch,
And straight recovers from convulsive fits;
It cleanses, dries, binds up, and maketh warm;
The head-ach, tooth-ach, cholic, like a charm
It easeth soon; an ancient cough relieves,
And to the reyns and milt and stomach gives
Quick riddance from the pains which each endures,
Next the dire wounds of poison'd arrows cures;
All bruises heals, and when the gum once sore,
It makes them sound and healthy as before:
Sleep it procures, our anxious sorrows lays,
And with new flesh the naked bone arrays;
No herb hath greater pow'r to rectify
All the disorders in the breast that lie;
Or in the lungs. Herb of immortal fame,
Which hither first by Santa Croce came;
When he (his time of nunclature expir'd)
Back from the court of Portugal retir'd,
Even as his predecessors, great and good.
All Christendom now with its presence blesses,
And still the illustrious family possesses
The name of Santa Croce, rightly given,
Since they in all respects resemble heaven:
Procure as much as mortal men can do,
The welfare of our souls and bodies too.
_Dr. Cullen_ observes, that tobacco is generally recognized for its
narcotic powers, as well as being a very considerable stimulant, with
respect to the whole system, but more especially the stomach and
intestines, and acts even in small doses as an emetic and purgative.
The editors of the Edinburgh Dispensary also remark, that of late, tobacco
under the form of a vinous or watery infusion, given in small quantities,
so as to produce little effect by its action on the stomach, has been
found a very useful and powerful diuretic.
_Dr. Fowler_ published some cases of dropsy and dysury, in which its
application was attended with the best effects, and this has been
confirmed by the practice of others. Beaten into a mash with vinegar or
brandy, it has sometimes proved highly serviceable for removing hard
tumours of the _hypochondres_. Two cases of cure are published in the
'Edinburgh Essays.'
Considerable reliance has also been placed upon it, by some of the most
eminent practitioners, as an injection by the anus of the smoke, in cases
of obstinate constipation, threatening _Ileus_, of _incarcerated hernia_,
of spasmodic asthma, and of persons apparently dead from drowning or other
causes.
_Dr. Strother_ speaks of its being beneficial in smoking, to persons
having defluxions on the lungs. By long boiling in water, its deleterious
power is said to be neutralized, and at length destroyed: an extract made
by long decoction, is recommended by _Stubb_ and other German physicians,
as the most efficient and safe aperient detergent, expectorant and
diuretic.--_Lewis Mat. Med._
_Bates_ and _Fuller_ give many encomiums on its powers in asthmatic
cases.
_Boyle_ asserts the juice and the plant to be very excellent in curing
ulcers and mortifications, although its operation, in this respect, is
stated by numerous other authorities, to be deleterious in the extreme. As
regarding, indeed, many of the virtues attributed to its use by Lewis and
others, in decoctions and poultices, candour obliges us to declare, though
with great deference to those opinions which have been expressed by the
most eminent of the medical profession, that we cannot consider it of any
particular efficacy. We shall, therefore, forbear tiring our readers with
recipes of the different forms in which it is prescribed for many
illnesses.
Taken as snuff, tobacco is generally allowed to be a mild and inoffensive
stimulant, which, indeed, in many cases, is prescribed as a most effectual
errhine for clearing the nostrils and head. When taken, however, as it
frequently is, in excessive quantities, its consequences become often
visible, and tumours and secretions in the nose are said to be the result.
It is likewise said by some, when taken immoderately, to greatly tend to
weaken the sight and bring on apoplexy.
_Revenus_ and _Chenst_ likewise wrote against the habit of smoking; but
like more modern writers, among whom may be named _Dr. Adam Clarke_, with
little or no effect; for it may be set down as a fact, proved in many
other instances, as well as this illustrates,--that where a people have
the facilities of judging for themselves, they invariably will do so. In
this case, practice and precept peculiarly go together.
Of the medical qualities of tobacco, as an antidote against contagion, its
inestimable efficacy was never better proved, than in the period of the
plagues[17] that have at times visited England.
_Dr. Willis_ says, in his very able treatise, that its power in repelling
the infectious air during the plague of 1665 was truly astonishing; so
much so, that the shops of the tobacconists remained quite uninfected.
It is also very favourably mentioned by _Richard Barker_, a physician, at
the period of the pestilence, who gives it in the following recipe against
the plague: "Carry about with you a leaf of tobacco rolled up in tiffiny
or lawn, so dipt in vinegar. Smell often to it, and sometimes clap it to
the temples for some few minutes of time. For those that smoke tobacco,
let them use it with one-fourth part of flower of sulphur, and seven or
eight drops of oil of amber for one pipe."
Among very many celebrated physicians, who have also recorded and
recommended the use of tobacco against the poisonous influence of the
plague, may be mentioned _Gideon Hovey_, M.D.,[18] _Dr. Fowler_,[19] and
_Diemerbroek_, a distinguished Dutch medical practitioner; besides
numerous pamphlets that have been published on the subject of the plague.
One account, published in 1663 by W. Kemp, professing to recommend the
best means to the public to avoid the infection, mentions tobacco in a
way, that reminds us somewhat of its warm panegyrist, Dr. Thorious, and is
too facetious to be here omitted. The following is the literal
transcript:--
"The American silver weed[20] or tobacco, is an excellent defence against
bad air, being smoked in a pipe, either by itself or with nutmeg shred,
and rew seeds mixed with it; especially if it be nosed, for it cleanseth
the air and choaketh and suppresseth and disperseth any venemous vapour;
it hath both singular and contrary effects; it is good to warm one being
cold, and will cool one being hot. All ages, all sexes and constitutions,
young and old, men and women, the sanguine, the choleric, the melancholy,
the phlegmatic, take it without any manifest inconvenience; it giveth
thirst, and yet will make one more able and fit to drink; it chokes
hunger, and yet will give one a good stomach; it is agreeable with mirth
or sadness, with feasting and with fasting; it will make one rest that
wants sleep, and will keep one waking that is drowsy; it hath an offensive
smell, and is more desirable than any perfume to others; that it is a most
excellent preservative, both experience and reason teach; it corrects the
air by fumigation, and avoids corrupt humours by salivation; for when one
takes it by chewing it in the leaf, or smoking it in the pipe, the humours
are brought and drawn from all parts of the body to the stomach, and from
thence rising up to the mouth of the TOBACCONIST, as to the helm of a
sublunatory, are voided and spitted out."
Of the poisonous qualities of tobacco, we are informed that a drop or two
of the chemical oil of tobacco, being put upon the tongue of a cat or dog,
produces violent convulsions, and death itself, in the space of a few
minutes; yet, the same oil used on lint, applied to the teeth, has been
found of the utmost service in the tooth-ach.[21]
A very common opinion prevails among those who do not smoke, that it is
bad for the teeth: a belief founded upon any thing but experience, and
resulting generally from prejudice. For preserving the gums and the enamel
of the teeth, in a healthy and sound state, few remedies can operate
better than the smoke of tobacco. In the first instance, it renders
nugatory the corruptive power of the juices that invariably set into the
interstices of the teeth, and unless brushed away, remain after meals;
and, in the second place, it destroys the effluvia arising at times from
the breath that, in some constitutions, so quickly brings about a
corrosion of the outer surface or enamel. The benefits that have resulted
from smoking, in cases of the tooth-ache, have been too commonly
experienced to admit of doubt. In a pamphlet that was published some
thirty years ago, detailing the adventures of the Pretender; an anecdote
is related of its excellence. While taking refuge in the mansion of Lady
Kingsland, in the Highlands of Scotland, from his enemies, after having
had recourse to many things, he smoked a pipe to free himself from this
'curse o' achs;' and after a short time, received the wished-for relief.
As another and concluding instance of the preservative power of tobacco
upon the teeth, it is related in the life of the great Sir Isaac Newton,
who was remarkable for the quantity of tobacco he smoked, that though he
lived to a good old age, he never lost but ONE TOOTH.