“i grant your worship that he is a knave, sir; but yet, heaven forbid, sir, but a knave should have some countenance at his friends’ request. an honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not.”——king henry iv., part 2.
it is the misfortune of kingdoms to be subject to rebellions, and of monarchs to behold the advent of pretenders, as it is the fate of gold to be imitated in baser metals, and bank notes to be forged. a rule is supposed to be strengthened by an exception, and tried gold to shine in greater splendour beside its counterfeit—
“than that which hath no foil to set it off.”
so, tobacco, in the midst of all its success and prosperity, has been envied and imitated by duller pretenders to the virtue it boasts, from among the meaner denizens of the vegetable world. of course these pretenders have been unsuccessful; for had they been successful, they had no longer been branded with the baser name, but had risen to the rank of benefactors and patriots. such is the custom of the world.
the following are the substances which are105 stated to be used for the adulteration of tobacco, principally in the form of “cut” and “roll.” dr. hassell divides them—
first, into vegetable substances, as the leaves of the dock, rhubarb, coltsfoot, cabbage, potato, chicory, endive, elm, and oak; malt cummings, that is the roots of germinating malt; peat, which consists chiefly of decayed moss; seaweed, roasted chicory root, wheat, oatmeal, bran, catechu or terra japonica, oakum, and logwood dye.
secondly, into saccharine substances, as cane-sugar, treacle, honey, liquorice, and beetroot dregs.
thirdly, into salts and earths, as nitre, common salt, sal ammoniac, or hydrochlorate of ammonia, nitrate of ammonia, carbonate of ammonia, the alkalies, as potash, soda, and lime; sulphate of magnesia, sulphate of soda or glauber salts, yellow ochre, umber, fuller’s earth, venetian red, sand, and sulphate of iron.
and the experience of the excise, as may be gathered from the evidence of mr. phillips before the committee of adulteration, harmonizes with the above list. “with regard to tobacco,” he says, “we have found in cut tobacco, sugar, liquorice, gum catechu, saltpetre, and various nitrates; yellow ochre, epsom salts, glauber salts, green copperas, red sandstone, wheat, oatmeal, malt cummings, chicory, and the following leaves—coltsfoot, rhubarb, chicory, endive, oak, elm; and in fancy tobacco, i once found lavender, and a wort called mugwort. it is a fragrant herb, suggestive rather of the nutmeg. in roll tobacco we have found rhubarb leaves, endive and dock leaves, sugar, liquorice, and a dye made of logwood and sulphate of iron.”
let consumers of tobacco console themselves, however, in the face of this formidable list, by the assurance of the eminent experimenter on articles106 of food, &c., before named, that “not one of the forty samples of manufactured cut tobacco which he examined was adulterated with any foreign leaf, or with any insoluble or organic extraneous substance of any description other than with sugar, or some other saccharine matter, which was present in several instances.”
leaving adulterations to take care of themselves, we find that an article, of very ancient use, is still occasionally smoked instead of the virginian weed. the plant referred to is coltsfoot (tussilago farfar, linn.), a very common weed on chalky and gravelly soils. pliny refers to it, and directs that the foliage should be burned, and the smoke arising from it drawn into the mouth through a reed and swallowed. these leaves have long been smoked for chest complaints, and are said to form the chief ingredient in british herb tobacco.
the leaves of milfoil or yarrow (achill?a millefolium), another plant equally common with the last, have been recommended to smokers in lieu of tobacco, and occasionally used for that purpose. added to beer, they render it heady or more intoxicating.
leaves of rhubarb are occasionally smoked by those who are too poor to furnish themselves with a regular supply of tobacco, and those who have used them state, that, although devoid of strength, they are not a bad substitute when tobacco is not to be obtained. for the same purpose they are collected and used in thibet, and on the slopes of the himalayas.
the leaves of a plant common in marshes and boggy soils in europe and north america, called bogbean (menyanthes trifoliata, linn.) are used in the north of europe when hops are scarce, to give a bitter flavour to beer, and have been recommended and adopted as a tobacco substitute.
107
an agricultural labourer near blois, pretends that the leaves of the beet make an excellent tobacco.
undescribed plants called akil and trouna, are used by the arabs of algeria to render their tobacco milder.
in some parts of europe, the leaves of the common garden sage has served the same purpose; whilst in some parts of switzerland, the leaves of mountain tobacco (arnica montana, linn.) are collected for use as tobacco, or dried and powdered to be used as snuff. this is no doubt a virulent plant, and has the reputation of being a powerful acrid narcotic.
the tobacco substitutes in north america are more numerous than we should have expected to have found in the native land of the true tobacco. a decoction of the holly-leaves (ilex vomitoria, linn.) are drunk by the native creek indians, under the name of “black drink,” at the opening of their councils, on account of its peculiar properties. this shrub is also called cossena by the indians, and the leaves are used for smoking as a substitute for tobacco. “often,” says one of the early settlers, “i have smoked a pipe of cossena with their majesties toma chaci and senoaki his queen, at their mud-palace, about three miles from savanacke.”
the virginian or stag’s horn sumach,18 which is met with almost over the whole of the united states, supplies leaves which are dried and used by some of the native tribes as tobacco.
the indians of the mississippi and missouri use the leaves of another sumach (rhus copallina) and indian tobacco (lobelia inflata, linn.) is supposed to be indebted for its name to the fact that it was108 one of the plants smoked by the indians instead of the genuine “weed.” under the name of “tombeki,” the leaf of a species of lobelia is smoked in parts of asia. it is smoked in a narghilè, and is exceedingly narcotic, so much so, that it is usually steeped in water to weaken it before being used; and it is always smoked whilst damp.
not many years since, a patent was taken out at washington for fabricating tobacco from maize-husks, steeped in a solution of cayenne. it was stated to be equal in flavour to true tobacco, and without any of the deleterious properties which have been attributed to that plant.
the miliceti indians, new brunswick, scrape the bark from the young twigs of the birch, and when dry, mix it with their tobacco for smoking. they are very partial to the admixture, the odour of which, it is affirmed, is much more agreeable than that of pure tobacco.
mr. m?lhausen smoked willow-leaves among the rocky mountains; and the use of these leaves for the same purpose is mentioned in “hiawatha.”
the bearberry (arctostaphylus uva ursi) common in many parts of north america, is found in the valley of the oregon, where the leaves are collected by the chenook indians, who mix them with their tobacco. the crees also use them for the same purpose, and with them it is called tchakashè-pukh. the chepewyans, who name it kleh, and the eskimos north of churchill (by whom it is termed attung-ā-wi-at) turn it to a like account. from the custom of the hudson’s bay company’s officers carrying it in bags for the same use, the voyagers gave it the appellation of sac-a-commis.
latterly a writer in a west indian paper, called attention to a novel application of the berries of the pimento (eugenia pimento), known commercially109 by that name or as allspice. “i have been,” he says, “a smoker for the past twenty years, and have consumed many pounds of honey-dew within that period; but it was only a short time ago that i discovered that pimento forms by far a more agreeable article for smoking; and any person who knows nothing of the fragrance of a pimento walk when in full bloom, may form some idea of it by a pipe charged and lighted with the dried berry, simply crushed in coarse bits. every lady has a dislike to the smell of tobacco. while she may be driven by its fumes and smell from the drawing-room, the pimento would, on the contrary, invite her presence. by way of experiment on the taste of other smokers, i may mention that i had the other day two men (great lovers of tobacco) employed in my garden. ‘joseph,’ i said, ‘where is your pipe to-day?’ ‘out of tobacco, massa,’ was his reply. ‘well, here is some very costly; give me your opinion of it when you have tried it.’ to prevent deception, i charged his pipe myself, and directed him to light it. he did so, and up ascended a graceful curl of smoke. joseph was not a little pleased, and thanking me for this costly tobacco, said it was ‘first-rate,’ and desired i should inform him what per pound it could have cost. i told him it grew pretty near his hut, and on opening my pouch, and disclosing to him that this ‘first-rate tobacco’ was nothing more than dried pimento, you may imagine his surprise. ‘a man is neber too old to larn,’ he exclaimed, and soon imparted the good news to his fellow-labourer.” with all due deference to the opinion of both joseph and his master, we have experimented on this wonderful pretender, and hold the opinion that it is unworthy of their joint encomiums. a friend who has also tested it, thinks it, however, very pleasant, and a fair substitute. it would appear,110 therefore, that there is something to be said on both sides.
cascarilla bark, the produce of the croton eleuteria in the bahamas, was first used to mix with tobacco, on account of the pleasing odour which it diffuses in burning. it is supposed also to possess narcotic properties, when used in this way. in south america, humboldt states that the leaves of polygonum hispida are used as a tobacco substitute.
the african contributions to our list are also rather extensive, especially from the neighbourhood of the cape. the leaves of a certain plant (tarchonanthus camphoratus, linn.) possessing a camphorated odour, are chewed by the mahometans, and smoked by the hottentots and bushmen instead of tobacco, and, like the “dagga,” exhibit slight narcotic symptoms. this may be owing to the camphor which they contain. the common camphor, in quantities a little beyond a medium dose, will produce indistinctness of ideas, incoherence of language, an indescribable uneasiness, shedding of tears, a sensation of fear and dread; then the body feels lighter than usual—an idea exists that flying will not only be easy, but a source of pleasure.
the wild dagga (leonotis leonurus, r. br.) grows wild on the sandy cape flats. it has a peculiar scent, and a nauseous taste, and seems to produce narcotic effects if incautiously used. the hottentots are particularly fond of it, and smoke it as tobacco. in the eastern districts of the cape, an allied species (leonotis ovata) has a similar reputation, and is used for a like purpose.
in the mauritius the leaves of the culen (psoralea glandulosa) are dried and smoked, while on the western coast of south america they are used in decoction as a beverage, instead of tea.
in asia, tobacco substitutes have but one or two111 representatives. one of these has been already alluded to, another consists of the long leaves of a species of tupistra, called “purphiok,” which are gathered in sikkim, chopped up, and mixed with tobacco for the hookah. the leaves of the water-lily are dried, and used in china to mix with tobacco for smoking, to render it milder.
cigars of stramonium, henbane, and belladonna, may be purchased at the same rate as those made of genuine tobacco, in chemists’ and herbalists’ shops—never having tried them, we have no experience of their flavour.
the majority of the substitutes for tobacco are, after all, very poor pretenders—capable, perhaps, of raising a smoke, but possessed of neither aromatic nor stimulating properties; and those which contain any active properties at all, are of a character so dangerous, as to make their extensive use extremely hazardous. in the former class, we may rank coltsfoot, sage, milfoil, rhubarb, and bogbean; and in the latter, stramonium, henbane, bella-donna, arnica, and lobelia. those who have been long accustomed to the use of tobacco, seldom, except in times of scarcity or deprivation of that plant, resort to the use of any other. this is the case at home. in the cape colony, the united testimony of travellers proves that the kaffirs are ready to make any sacrifices for tobacco, and prefer it to any of their own indigenous substitutes.
when the tobacco has been found to be too strong, incipient smokers have been known to counteract its effects, and lessen its power, by mixing therewith the flowers of chamomile, which once enjoyed great reputation as a useful medicine. others, in the absence of tobacco, have resorted to brown paper or tow, which, being smoked through an old or foul pipe, is said to carry with its smoke112 some of the tobacco flavour, and to be infinitely better than no smoke at all. juveniles will sometimes, with a piece of cane, or a strip of clematis, imitate their elders, and, in imagination, enjoy the luxury of an havannah cigar.
a curious anecdote of a buckinghamshire parson occurs in “lilly’s history of his life and times,” to which we have before referred. “in this year, also, william breedon, parson or vicar of thornton in bucks, was living, a profound divine, but absolutely the most polite parson for nativities in that age, strictly adhering to ptolemy, which he well understood; he had a hand in composing sir christopher heydon’s ‘defence of judicial astrology,’ being at that time his chaplain; he was so given over to tobacco and drink, that when he had no tobacco (and i suppose too much drink) he would cut the bell-ropes and smoke them.”
having unmasked the “race of pretenders,” and shown the titles upon which they seek to establish their claims, with charles lamb we now bid farewell to tobacco.
“for i must, (nor let it grieve thee,
friendliest of plants, that i must) leave thee;
for thy sake, tobacco, i
would do anything but die;
and but seek to extend my days
long enough to sing thy praise.
but as she, who once hath been
a king’s consort, is a queen
ever after, nor will bate
any tittle of her state,
though a widow, or divorced,
so i, from thy converse forced,
the old name and style retain,
a right katherine of spain;
and a seat, too, ’mongst the joys
of the blest tobacco boys;
where, though i, by sour physician,
am debarred the full fruition113
of thy favours, i may catch
some collateral sweets, and snatch
sidelong odours, that give life,
like glances from a neighbour’s wife;
and still live in the by-places,
and the suburbs of thy graces;
and in thy borders take delight,
an unconquered canaanite.”
mountain scenery
