Show THE TOBACCO HABIT IN prance france there is a society which calls itself contre du tabac society opposed to the abuse of tobacco having for its objects the collection and dissemination of statistics and general information regarding the use of that leaf the society proposes to be impartial in its investigations and publications giving results as to the practical examination of the subject fairly in order that the useful if any and baneful results of using the weed may be laid before the public the replies received from the chiefs among the french form a curious symposium some in favor of others neither opposed to nor in favor of and still others radically against the use of tobacco zola while deprecating the practice in the main concludes with an egotistical palliation of it in ift the following words if genius is a nervous affection fec tion why cure it perfection is so dull a thing that I 1 often regret having cured myself of smoking 1 dumas fila is unsparing in his denunciation showing that tobacco together with alcohol is the most formidable foe of intelligence but perhaps the most consistent and most plainly spoken enemy to the practice is gustave feuillet who convinces as he talks when he says 1 t I have been a great smoker and it cost me a great deal of trouble to give up tobacco but I 1 have been absolutely compelled to do so some years ago by the aggravation of fits of nervousness which for a long time I 1 refused to attribute to nicotine but which in reality had bad no other cause I 1 was obliged to surrender to tile the truth when the nervous fits became more frequent and more intolerable on the whole I 1 think tobacco is very injurious especially ally to nervous persons it produces at first a slight excitement and intoxication which ends in somnolence it blunts the faculties of the mind one is compelled to fight fl ht against its action in a reaction w which tich fatigues and wears the will it is a real source of wonder that a habit so painfully acquired and so filthy in its continuation should become such a tyrant when it gets a firm hold it requires almost as much fortitude and determination to break away from the tobacco as from the alcohol habit and the latter is much more easily acquired the misery inflicted upon our race by the improper use of the two in poverty degradation and death exists not only in records but is constantly before the eyes of au all who can see and still the fiends pursue their work almost unchecked |