Object Lessons on the Human Body Part 24

If this be true of smoking, what shall we say about the filthy habit of chewing, and the utterly useless and disgusting practice of taking snuff, which injures the voice as well as the senses of taste and smell?

And what about spitting tobacco juice on the floors of cars, steamboats, churches,--any place where it is convenient for the man or boy who has lost his common politeness in his love for tobacco?

We must not forget that cigars, etc., cost money. No one who smokes, chews, or snuffs would throw away dollars and cents which might be put into the savings bank, or used in buying something worth having for himself or somebody else.

Lastly, we would have you know that tobacco causes thirst, and this often leads to drinking alcoholic liquors. Some one who has studied this subject, says that "nine out of ten of the boys and young men who become drunkards have first learned to smoke or chew tobacco." A New York daily paper gave a list of 294 cases of insanity caused by drinking, in 246 of which the whiskey drinking followed tobacco chewing.

Tobacco and alcohol make thousands of wretched homes, and send a great many people to prison or to the insane asylum; so we entreat you to turn from beer, wine, and all alcoholic liquors as you would from a serpent, and say No, when tempted to smoke a cigar or use tobacco in any form.

Do this all the more decidedly because, as we have told you before, alcohol and tobacco hurt children and young persons in every way more than they injure any one else. If you have begun to use these poisons, give them up this very day, before the habit of using them becomes too strong for you to break.

QUESTIONS ON THE USE OF TOBACCO.

Of what poison beside alcohol have you been studying?--"Tobacco."

How is tobacco used?--"Some take it in snuff; some chew it; some smoke it in a pipe; some smoke it in cigars or cigarettes."

What is the name of the strongest poison in tobacco?--"Nicotine."

What harm does tobacco poison do to the body?--See Blackboard Outline.

What harm does it do to the mind?--See Blackboard Outline.

Whom does it harm most?--"Those who begin to use it when they are children or very young."

What happens to children or young people if they use tobacco in any way?--"They are not healthy; they are not strong; they do not grow fast; they look pale and sickly."

How does the tobacco poison hurt their minds?--"They cannot learn fast; they often forget what they have learned."

What often makes tobacco-chewers, snuffers, and smokers disagreeable to clean people?--"Their breath smells of tobacco; their clothes smell of tobacco; they poison the air with tobacco-fumes; some have the filthy habit of spitting tobacco-juice wherever they happen to be."

What other harm does the use of tobacco do to people?--"It makes them waste time and money; it leads some to drink alcoholic liquors and to go with bad company."

If you are wise how will you treat tobacco?--"I will let it alone."

If you have begun to use it what had you better do?--"Give it up to-day."

Why to-day?--"Because the longer I use it the harder it will be for me to give it up."

If you keep on using it what will you be?--"A tobacco slave."

BLACKBOARD OUTLINE.

TOBACCO.

POISONS IN TOBACCO SMOKE. EFFECTS OF THE POISONS.

Carbonic acid Causes sleepiness and headache.

Carbonic oxide Causes trembling of the muscles and heart.

Ammonia Bites the tongue; makes too much work for the salivary glands.

Nicotine See below.

NICOTINE IS CAUSES Odorous, Weakness, Pungent, Nervousness, Emetic, Dizziness, Poisonous, Nausea, Pain-soothing, Faintness, Sleep-producing, _i.e._ Narcotic. Loss of strength, Stupor, _If taken in large quant.i.ties_ Convulsions and Death.

SOME OF THE HARM DONE BY TOBACCO TO THE BODY. TO THE MIND, ETC.

Poisons the saliva. Makes the memory poor.

Injures the sense of smell, taste, Lessens the power to think.

sight, and hearing. Weakens the will.

Causes "smokers' sore-throat." Makes people grow in selfishness Injures the stomach, causing and impoliteness.

dyspepsia, etc. Makes people waste time and Often takes away the appet.i.te for money.

wholesome food. Often leads to drunkenness and bad Irritates the air-cells of the company.

lungs. Sometimes causes insanity.

Causes palpitation of the heart.

Weakens the muscles, causing trembling.

Injures the eyes.

Excites, then stupefies and paralyzes the brain and the nerves.

OPIUM AND OTHER NARCOTICS.

_OPIUM._--Opium is the juice obtained from the seed-vessels of the white poppy before they are ripe; this is dried, and smoked in a pipe or chewed.

It makes a person feel very pleasant and happy for a little while, then so horribly wretched that he takes more of the poison to forget his misery. So he keeps on until mind and body are a complete wreck. Now and then an opium slave gets free from the dreadful habit which has mastered him, but usually the slavery ends only in death.

_LAUDANUM AND MORPHINE._--These soothe pain and cause sleep; but beware of them; they are made from opium, and like it, though more slowly, hurt mind and body.

Beware also of _chloral hydrate_ and _chloroform_, which physicians give to ease suffering and produce sleep. _Endure pain_ rather than form the habit of using these narcotics.

_HAs.h.i.+SH, ETC._--This is prepared from the hemp plant growing in hot countries, and is a terribly exciting poison.

The _areca nut_, the seed from a kind of palm, pear-shaped, and resembling a nutmeg, is mixed with quick-lime and wrapped in a betel-leaf, which grows on a vine belonging to the pepper family. This mixture reddens the saliva and lips, and blackens the teeth. It is chewed by millions of people in India.

The leaves of the _coca_, also of the _thorn apple_, are smoked or chewed by the South American Indian.

ALL these poisons mean the same thing,--

_A little pleasure_, DISEASE, and DEATH.

Practical Work in the School-Room.