CHAPTERIX.

"Swedenborg took snuff profusely and carelessly, strewing it over his papers and the carpet. His manuscripts bear its traces to this day. His carpet set those sneezing who shook it. One Sunday he desired to have it taken up and beaten. Shearsmith objected, 'Better wait till to-morrow,' 'Dat be good! dat be good!' was his answer."

We copy the following article on the manufacture of snuff from a well-known English journal, "Cope's Tobacco Plant:"—

"Although snuff is still extensively consumed in this country (Great Britain), the mode of its manufacture is very little known to those who use it; and there are very few persons of even the most inquisitive turn of mind who can say they have ever penetrated into the mysterious precincts of a snuff-mill. Even those who have been privileged, and have had the courage to inspect the interior of such an establishment, have come away with very vague notions of what they saw. The hollow whirr of the revolving pestles, the hazy atmosphere closely resembling a London fog in November, a phenomenon which is produced by the innumerable particles of tobacco floating about, and causing the gas to flicker and sparkle in a mysterious way, and producing a lively irritation of the mucous membrane, all combine in placing the visitor in a state of amusing bewilderment, and he is compelled to make a speedy exit, having only had just a running peep at the interesting process of snuff-making. It is therefore our duty to give a description of a process which will be new to a large number of people, and will help to clear up some of the obscure theories that a great many more entertain of it."Those persons who have travelled on the Continent, and who have noticed on tobacconists' counters a small machine, somewhat like a coffee-mill, which a man works with one hand, while he holds a hard-pressed plug of tobacco about a pound weight against the revolving grater, and produces snuff while the snuff-taker waits for it, may imagine that snuff in England is produced on a somewhat similar smallscale. But this, like many kindred theories, is quite a mistake. In this country there exist large snuff-mills worked by steam power, and in Scotland there is one water-mill which is driven by a water-power of the strength of thirty horses. The grinding of snuff is at present carried on much as it was one hundred years ago. The apparatus, although effective, is very primitive, and would lead one to suppose that mechanical ingenuity had wholly neglected to trouble itself about improving that branch of machinery.

"Those persons who have travelled on the Continent, and who have noticed on tobacconists' counters a small machine, somewhat like a coffee-mill, which a man works with one hand, while he holds a hard-pressed plug of tobacco about a pound weight against the revolving grater, and produces snuff while the snuff-taker waits for it, may imagine that snuff in England is produced on a somewhat similar smallscale. But this, like many kindred theories, is quite a mistake. In this country there exist large snuff-mills worked by steam power, and in Scotland there is one water-mill which is driven by a water-power of the strength of thirty horses. The grinding of snuff is at present carried on much as it was one hundred years ago. The apparatus, although effective, is very primitive, and would lead one to suppose that mechanical ingenuity had wholly neglected to trouble itself about improving that branch of machinery.

Snuff-mill a Century ago.

"All kinds of snuff are made from tobacco leaves, or tobacco stalks, either separate or mixed. This in the first instance goes through a kind of fermentation, and, like the basis of soup at the modern hotels, forms, as it were, the stock from which all the varieties in flavor and appearance are produced by special treatment and flavoring. Of course the strength and pungency of the snuff will depend a good deal upon the richness of the tobacco originally put aside for it. About one thousand pounds of tobacco would form an ordinary batch of snuff. The duty on this would amount to about £150, and this has to be paid before the tobacco is removed from the bonded warehouse. Having got his heap of material ready, the snuff-maker moistens it, then places it in a warm room and covers it over with warm cloths—coddles it, as it were, to make it comfortable, so that the cold air cannot get to it—and the heap is then left for three or four weeks, as the case may be, to ferment."In France, where, under the Imperialrégime, snuff-making was a Government monopoly, the tobacco was allowed to ferment for twelve or eighteen months; and in the principal factory (that at Strasburg) might have been seen scores ofhuge bins, as large as porter vats, all piled up with tobacco in various stages of fermentation. The tobacco, after being fermented, if intended for that light, powdery, brown-looking snuff called S. P., is dried a little; or if for Prince's Mixture, Macobau, or any other kind of Rappee, is at once thrown into what is called the mull. The mull is a kind of large iron mortar weighing about half a ton and lined with wood; and there is a heavy pestle which travels round it, forming, as it were, a large pestle and mortar.

"In France, where, under the Imperialrégime, snuff-making was a Government monopoly, the tobacco was allowed to ferment for twelve or eighteen months; and in the principal factory (that at Strasburg) might have been seen scores ofhuge bins, as large as porter vats, all piled up with tobacco in various stages of fermentation. The tobacco, after being fermented, if intended for that light, powdery, brown-looking snuff called S. P., is dried a little; or if for Prince's Mixture, Macobau, or any other kind of Rappee, is at once thrown into what is called the mull. The mull is a kind of large iron mortar weighing about half a ton and lined with wood; and there is a heavy pestle which travels round it, forming, as it were, a large pestle and mortar.

These mulls are placed in rows and shut up in separate cupboards, to keep in the dust. The snuff-maker wanders from one to the other, and feeds them as they require.

"When the grinding of the snuff is completed it is then ready for flavouring, and in this consists the great art and secret of the trade. Receipts for peculiar flavors are handed down from father to son as most valuable heir-looms, and these receipts are in fact a valuable property in many instances, for so delicate is the nose of your snuff-taker that he can detect the slightest variation in the preparation of his favorite snuff. It is related of one old snuff-maker in London, who had acquired a handsome fortune and retired from business, that he made it a consideration with his successors that he should be allowed, so long as he lived, to attend one day in the week at the business and flavor all the snuff. Most people will also be familiar with some one of the numerous versions of the origin of the once famous Lundy Foote Snuff, better known as 'Irish Blackguard.'"The excise are very rigid in their laws for regulating the manufacture of snuff; and with the exception of a little common salt, which is added to make the tobacco keep, and alkalies for bringing out the flavor, nothing is allowed to be used but a few essential oils. And here we must digress for a moment to correct a popular error, viz., that snuff contains ground glass, put there for titillating purposes. What appears to be ground glass is only the little crystals or small particles of alkali that have not been dissolved. So that fastidious snuff-takers may dismiss this bugbear at once and forever."The essential oils referred to form a very expensive item to the manufacture of snuff. The ladies would be much surprised to see a dusty snuff-maker drain off five pounds' worth of pure unadulterated otto-of-roses into a tin can, andas they (the ladies) would suppose, throw it away on a heap of what would appear to them rubbishy dust in one corner of the snuff-room. Of course the ladies would consider the proper place for it to be on the cambric handkerchief, but this idea would be about the last to occur to your matter-of-fact snuff-maker.

"The excise are very rigid in their laws for regulating the manufacture of snuff; and with the exception of a little common salt, which is added to make the tobacco keep, and alkalies for bringing out the flavor, nothing is allowed to be used but a few essential oils. And here we must digress for a moment to correct a popular error, viz., that snuff contains ground glass, put there for titillating purposes. What appears to be ground glass is only the little crystals or small particles of alkali that have not been dissolved. So that fastidious snuff-takers may dismiss this bugbear at once and forever.

"The essential oils referred to form a very expensive item to the manufacture of snuff. The ladies would be much surprised to see a dusty snuff-maker drain off five pounds' worth of pure unadulterated otto-of-roses into a tin can, andas they (the ladies) would suppose, throw it away on a heap of what would appear to them rubbishy dust in one corner of the snuff-room. Of course the ladies would consider the proper place for it to be on the cambric handkerchief, but this idea would be about the last to occur to your matter-of-fact snuff-maker.

Perfuming Snuff.

"In addition to otto-of-roses, the scent-room contains great jars of essence of lemon, French geranium, verbena, oil of pimento, bergamotte, etc., all of which are used in the various flavoring combinations. There would most likely also be a few hundred-weight of fine Tonquin beans, and one of these beans is generally presented to any visitor who drops in, as souvenir to carry away in his waistcoat pocket. Snuff is very extensively used in the mills and factories of Lancashire. Those who toil long in heated and noisy mills seem to require, and doubtless do require, tobacco in some shape or other to keep them from flagging; and as chewing is not polite, and smoking in a mill not allowed, the only resource left to the operative is his snuff. A singular feature connected with this is, we believe, the fact that spinners in very few instances use snuff-boxes, they prefer having their supply of snuff screwed up in a piece of paper. One retail shop-keeper in a busy spinning town in Lancashire assured us that he retailed over four hundred weight of snuff a week in pennyworths."It is impossible to state the exact quantity of snuff used in this country; but, as far as we can arrive at it from statistics at hand, we should say it cannot be less than five hundred tons per annum. This seems an enormous quantity, considering the comparatively small number of persons who now use snuff; but the great bulk of snuff seems to be consumed by particular communities, such as the Lancashire operatives, and the consumption of it is therefore not generally observable; and further it should be remembered that those who do take snuff, individually use large quantities."

"It is impossible to state the exact quantity of snuff used in this country; but, as far as we can arrive at it from statistics at hand, we should say it cannot be less than five hundred tons per annum. This seems an enormous quantity, considering the comparatively small number of persons who now use snuff; but the great bulk of snuff seems to be consumed by particular communities, such as the Lancashire operatives, and the consumption of it is therefore not generally observable; and further it should be remembered that those who do take snuff, individually use large quantities."

Snuff-manufacturing has in some cases been attended with considerable affluence. One instance is the London manufacturer already mentioned, whose profits accumulated to the extent of nearly a quarter of a million; another is the Lundy Foote business, and the third a Scotch manufacturer (Gillespie), who by the way, practised a bit of benevolence, in the shape of building an hospital, in return for the good things fortune had sent him. Of course an hospital, like many other things, may have a doubtful origin, as witness the famous Guy's, which stands as a lasting monument to the wonderful profits that used to be made out of the iniquitous advance note system. But we do not by any means wish to make comparisons which must be odious and although the profits of snuff-manufacturing are for a variety of reasons—amongst others the decreased consumption of the manufactured article—not nearly as large as they were fifty years ago; yet we are sure that the fortunes accumulated by some of the old snuff-makers were the result of honest, upright industry.

Of European tobacco used in the manufacture of snuff that of Holland and France (St. Omer) is considered to be equal to any grown in Europe. Of the varieties grown in America, Virginia leaf is used quite extensively for some grades of snuff and "good stout rich snuff leaf" commands excellent prices and meets with a ready sale.

A writer gives the following account of the love the Terra Del Fuegians have for tobacco.

"This morning we were up early, a large party going ashore for various scientific purposes, and the others taking the ship out in the channel to do a little dredging; both parties were very successful, and added much to our collection. As we on the shore were about ready to come off, we were visited by a party of Fuegians, five men, four women, and nine children, with three dogs. They came in an English-built boat, stolen or lost from some English ship. The men and dogs landed and came towards us with a great frankness of manner. They could talk neither English nor Spanish, except the few words, boat, fire, tobac, galleto, arco. But they understood the imperial manner of one of our officers,who said quietly but firmly, 'keep back those dogs,' and immediately drove back the barking curs with sticks and stones. They warmed themselves at our fire, and seemed disposed to be very civil and friendly. We gave them our remaining biscuit, and what little tobacco there was in our party to spare. One of them accepted a pinch of snuff and pretended to sneeze, crying 'Hatchee!' with mock solemnity.

Fuegian Snuff-takers.

An old man sat down on a stone and sang to us a low, sweet recitation, or chant, in wild key, or mode, ending on a rising melody with each stanza.They followed us to the ship, and we gave them some calico and beads, and tobacco, and also bought bows and arrows, and a sea-urchin, paying them in tobacco. They clung to the ship as we got under way, men and women, crying, 'Tobacco!' and frantic to catch any fragment of the precious weed thrown to them. But at length they let go, and we left the bay with the cry of tobacco ringing in our ears."

An old man sat down on a stone and sang to us a low, sweet recitation, or chant, in wild key, or mode, ending on a rising melody with each stanza.

They followed us to the ship, and we gave them some calico and beads, and tobacco, and also bought bows and arrows, and a sea-urchin, paying them in tobacco. They clung to the ship as we got under way, men and women, crying, 'Tobacco!' and frantic to catch any fragment of the precious weed thrown to them. But at length they let go, and we left the bay with the cry of tobacco ringing in our ears."

Having spoken of most of the modes of using snuff in both the Old and New World, we come now to a description of using snuff at the South, known as "dipping," and by some as "rubbing," both terms used to denote the same manner of use. The description of it as given by A. L. Adams is as follows:—

"In the South, and more especially in Virginia, where tobacco has been cultivated for more than two hundred andfifty years, and where a few pounds of it was the legitimate price for a wife, it is not surprising that it should be more highly prized and come into more general use than in any other section of our country. On the banks of the James River it was first successfully cultivated by the English colony, and this simple fact alone must forever throw a charm around it, which will foster the pride of the Virginian who has any respect for his ancestry, and hold him under sacred obligations to use, cherish, and defend the plant and its use—all of which he regards as no less a pleasure than a duty. Here too its many virtues were first discovered, and its soothing effects first felt and appreciated."To the old Virginian it is indeed a cherished weed, charming all manner of diseases, comforting in sorrow, soothing the ills of life, and preserving to a good old age and in a happy frame of mind all who use it. He believes in its superior virtues, and ascribes to it more good qualities than to any other known plant. He always carries it about with him, and if perchance he gets out he is truly miserable. He not only loves but worships it as a cure all. His wife and daughters know its virtues full well, and use it with equal grace and relish, believing it gives a lustre to the eye and a freshness to the cheek rarely surpassed. Among the variety of ways in which it is used none attracted my attention so much as the novel manner of snuff-taking in various parts of Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia."In some localities the practice is unknown, while in many others it is very common. I first discovered young ladies putting snuff into their mouths as if eating it, when my curiosity was excited to an alarming extent, but on being invited to 'dip' with them I soon learned that they were not eating, but 'rubbing and chewing' it, as they called it, and in such a lively manner as to soon convince me that they appreciated it. I found the habit to be quite common even among the young of both sexes—all indulging in it as if it afforded real satisfaction to the appetite for tobacco in some form."The young ladies however seemed the more attached to the 'rubbing process,' as it has been appropriately styled, and defended it with equal logic and grace whenever it was assailed. The young gentlemen when in the society of the young ladies generally join them in this unique use of snuff, as they are always sure to be invited and urged if they decline, and to merit their favor of course they must appearsocial. I believe, in credit to their taste, however, that they really prefer a good cigar, and think it more in keeping with their ideas of manhood and neatness. I have seen young girls of ten 'rubbing and chewing,' as if they appreciated it as much as mother Eve did the apple in the garden of paradise."I have also seen old ladies with trembling limbs and few teeth 'rubbing and chewing,' as if it made them feel young again. I have frequently been ushered unexpectedly into the presence of young ladies, and found them puffing their cigarettes in a manner that convinced me that they knew how to smoke. There is nothing that will more surely and quickly bring a stranger into the fellowship and good graces of the ladies than to join them in their pet habit of snuff-rubbing. It seems to form a bond of friendship which they regard as sacred as the vows of wedlock."The older matrons 'rub' less and smoke more, which is in accordance with nature and philosophy: The older we grow the more we smoke. They find solid pleasure in sitting by the open grate after tea with fifteen inches of pipe's tail between their teeth, and slowly but gracefully puffing the perfumes of the exhilarating weed into the room, and watching with childish pleasure the hazy curling wreaths of smoke as they gently float around, changing in form and color until they finally disappear up the chimney, affording rich themes for meditation and profitable study, and perhaps suggestive of earlier days when grandmother, an innocent, blooming maid, was exchanged for the weed, the seed of which produced the plant she is now burning. Everywhere I marked only pleasant and soothing effects from the use of tobacco."The planter is never more indifferent to the ills of life and in sympathy with good feeling and pleasure, than when he sits down after dinner in his vine-thatched portico and lights his pipe, passing to his guests pipes, cigars, and tobacco in various forms, leaving them to choose their favorite mode of using it. Sambo is never more contented than when he burns the weed in a cob pipe, and draws the delicious smoke through an elder sprig or mullen stem. But the maid is happiest of all when with her lover she sits face to face, and they 'dip' together from the same magic plant—tobacco."In every walk of life throughout the sunny South tobacco in some form may be found, and its effects are always the same, whether drawn from the pocket of the beggar or taken with gloved fingers from the golden tobacco-box of theplanter. For snuff the ladies have very nice round boxes with lids which, they always carry with them full of black snuff highly but pleasantly flavored. They also carry little brushes or sticks about three inches long with pliable ends; these they wet in the mouth, then dip into the snuff-box, and then place it in the mouth outside of the gums and rub earnestly for two or three minutes. 'Will you dip with me?' is the usual way of putting the invitation, when the box is drawn from the pocket and rapped slightly on the cover, sometimes by all present, who thus signify their readiness to 'dip,' then it is repassed open to all, and the 'dipping and rubbing' begins in earnest.

"To the old Virginian it is indeed a cherished weed, charming all manner of diseases, comforting in sorrow, soothing the ills of life, and preserving to a good old age and in a happy frame of mind all who use it. He believes in its superior virtues, and ascribes to it more good qualities than to any other known plant. He always carries it about with him, and if perchance he gets out he is truly miserable. He not only loves but worships it as a cure all. His wife and daughters know its virtues full well, and use it with equal grace and relish, believing it gives a lustre to the eye and a freshness to the cheek rarely surpassed. Among the variety of ways in which it is used none attracted my attention so much as the novel manner of snuff-taking in various parts of Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia.

"In some localities the practice is unknown, while in many others it is very common. I first discovered young ladies putting snuff into their mouths as if eating it, when my curiosity was excited to an alarming extent, but on being invited to 'dip' with them I soon learned that they were not eating, but 'rubbing and chewing' it, as they called it, and in such a lively manner as to soon convince me that they appreciated it. I found the habit to be quite common even among the young of both sexes—all indulging in it as if it afforded real satisfaction to the appetite for tobacco in some form.

"The young ladies however seemed the more attached to the 'rubbing process,' as it has been appropriately styled, and defended it with equal logic and grace whenever it was assailed. The young gentlemen when in the society of the young ladies generally join them in this unique use of snuff, as they are always sure to be invited and urged if they decline, and to merit their favor of course they must appearsocial. I believe, in credit to their taste, however, that they really prefer a good cigar, and think it more in keeping with their ideas of manhood and neatness. I have seen young girls of ten 'rubbing and chewing,' as if they appreciated it as much as mother Eve did the apple in the garden of paradise.

"I have also seen old ladies with trembling limbs and few teeth 'rubbing and chewing,' as if it made them feel young again. I have frequently been ushered unexpectedly into the presence of young ladies, and found them puffing their cigarettes in a manner that convinced me that they knew how to smoke. There is nothing that will more surely and quickly bring a stranger into the fellowship and good graces of the ladies than to join them in their pet habit of snuff-rubbing. It seems to form a bond of friendship which they regard as sacred as the vows of wedlock.

"The older matrons 'rub' less and smoke more, which is in accordance with nature and philosophy: The older we grow the more we smoke. They find solid pleasure in sitting by the open grate after tea with fifteen inches of pipe's tail between their teeth, and slowly but gracefully puffing the perfumes of the exhilarating weed into the room, and watching with childish pleasure the hazy curling wreaths of smoke as they gently float around, changing in form and color until they finally disappear up the chimney, affording rich themes for meditation and profitable study, and perhaps suggestive of earlier days when grandmother, an innocent, blooming maid, was exchanged for the weed, the seed of which produced the plant she is now burning. Everywhere I marked only pleasant and soothing effects from the use of tobacco.

"The planter is never more indifferent to the ills of life and in sympathy with good feeling and pleasure, than when he sits down after dinner in his vine-thatched portico and lights his pipe, passing to his guests pipes, cigars, and tobacco in various forms, leaving them to choose their favorite mode of using it. Sambo is never more contented than when he burns the weed in a cob pipe, and draws the delicious smoke through an elder sprig or mullen stem. But the maid is happiest of all when with her lover she sits face to face, and they 'dip' together from the same magic plant—tobacco.

"In every walk of life throughout the sunny South tobacco in some form may be found, and its effects are always the same, whether drawn from the pocket of the beggar or taken with gloved fingers from the golden tobacco-box of theplanter. For snuff the ladies have very nice round boxes with lids which, they always carry with them full of black snuff highly but pleasantly flavored. They also carry little brushes or sticks about three inches long with pliable ends; these they wet in the mouth, then dip into the snuff-box, and then place it in the mouth outside of the gums and rub earnestly for two or three minutes. 'Will you dip with me?' is the usual way of putting the invitation, when the box is drawn from the pocket and rapped slightly on the cover, sometimes by all present, who thus signify their readiness to 'dip,' then it is repassed open to all, and the 'dipping and rubbing' begins in earnest.

Snuff-dipping.

"The only advantage I ever discovered in this unnatural way of snuffing is in avoiding all unpleasant sneezing which snuffing is sure to produce, although it is claimed that it whitens and preserves the teeth and sweetens the mouth, and produces a beneficial effect on the lungs, all of which is true or not, just as you choose to believe. 'Will you dip and rub with me?' said one of the prettiest belles of Winchester, and in another city in another state the daughter of an ex-governor, handing me a silver-tipped brush and opening a rose-wood snuff-box richly inlaid with gold, politely asked me to 'dip' with her, expressing the belief that friendship would always follow. I have frequently been asked by ladieswhen travelling through the country and stopping at farm-houses, if I used tobacco—as a hint to offer them some, and it was a pleasure to comply, and receive the thankful smile of an appreciative heart."

Snuffers.

In other parts of the country the habit of snuff-taking is confined principally to old ladies, who use any kind, either black or yellow, and who prefer themselves the cheaper kinds. But few varieties are used, and there seems to be but little taste manifested in the selection of the "dust." Foreign varieties are used only to a limited extent, being chiefly confined to those of transatlantic birth and tastes. The custom of chewing and smoking seems to be more popular with the male sex than snuff-taking, and one rarely finds a man addicted to the latter habit, unless it be one somewhat advanced in years.

Stewart in his admirable paper on snuff gives much useful information in regard to the universal custom of using it as well as its origin and distinguished uses of the great sternutatory.

"The luckless fate of inventors and originators has become proverbial, but the ingenious individual whose nostrils rejoiced in the first pinch of snuff stood in no need of the niggardly praise of contemporaries or the lavish gratitude of posterity. That first 'pinch' was its own priceless reward, far above present appreciation or future fame. What matters it, that his great name has not been reverently handed down to us: that posterity seeks in vain his honored tomb, on which to hang her grateful votive wreath; that zealous antiquaries have raised up innumerable pretenders to his unclaimed honors, and striven to rob him of his fame? Enough for that lucky inventor, wherever he may rest, that he enjoyed in his lifetime the reward for which ordinary benefactors of their kind are fain to look to the future."It is perfectly vain to attempt now to penetrate into the mystery which envelopes the name and nation of the first snuff-taker: long before rough, noble-hearted Drake cured his dyspepsia by the use of tobacco, or Raleigh transplanted some roots of that precious weed into English soil, there were European noses which had rejoiced at its pulverized leaves. Conjecture, lost in the mazy distance, gladly lays hold of something substantial in the shape of snuff's first royal patron. This was Catherine de Medicis, who, receiving some seeds of the tobacco plant from a Dutch colony, cherished them, and elevated the dried and pounded leaves into a royal medicine, with the proud title of 'Herbe à la Reine.' For in the beginning men took snuff, not as an everyday luxury, but as a medicament. Like tea—which a hundred years later was advertised as a cure for every ill—the new sneezing powder was hailed a universal specific; and so pleasant in its operation, that mankind, acting upon the wholesome aphorism that prevention is much better than cure, and eagerly anticipated the disease it was supposed to remedy.""The use of 'the pungent grains of titillating dust' received a somewhat heavy and discouraging blow from an unexpected quarter. That ubiquitous power which hurled anathemas alike at the heresies of Luther and the length of clerical wigs, discountenanced its use, and at length fairly lost its temper in the contest with snuff. Whether from a prescience of the beneficial influence it was destined to exert upon mankind, or from a suspicion of its power of sharpening intellects, it is difficult to say; but Popes Urban VIII., and Innocent waged quite a miniature crusade againstsnuff, anathematizing those who should use it in any church, and positively threatening with excommunication all impious persons who should provoke a profane sneeze within the sacred precincts of St. Peter's pile; Louis XIV., that good son of the Church, filially complied with the paternal injunction, but his courtiers were less yielding; and the ante-chamber of Versailles frequently resounded with the effects of the pleasant stimulant."All persecution has a distinct tendency to establish the object of its hate, and so it was with the subject of our article—it only required to be loved; and I do not doubt that, had circumstances required them, snuff would have found its martyrs. Its use was not general in England until Charles II. introduced it, upon his return from exile, with other important fashions. It had been known and used before, as had the periwig, but it was not until his reign that it became common. When the Stuarts relieved the country of their presence for the second and last time, it had become firmly established; and, by the days of good Queen Anne, was such a necessary of life, that there were in the metropolis alone no less than seven thousand shops where the snuff-boxes of the Londoners could be replenished."At that time, indeed, gallants were as proud of their jewelled boxes of amber, porcelain, ebony and agate as they were of their flowing wigs and clouded canes, the handles of which were not unfrequently constructed to hold the cherished dust. We are told by courtly Dick Steel, that a handsome snuff-box was as much an essential of 'the fine gentleman' as his gilt chariot, diamond ring, and brocade sword-knot. We know them to have been manufactured of the costliest material, heavy with gold and brilliant with jewels, as they needed to be when their masters carried wigs 'high on the shoulder in a basket borne,' worth forty or fifty guineas, and wore enough Flanders lace upon their persons to have stocked a milliner's stall in New England."Unfortunately, but very naturally, this extravagance rendered snuff a butt for the wits (who all took it, by the way), to shoot at. Steele, whose weakness for dress and show were proverbial, levelled many of his blunt shafts at its use; and Pope, who himself tells us 'of his wig all powder and all snuff his band,' let fly one of his keener arrows at the beaux, whose wit lay in their snuff-boxes and tweezer cases. As the men laid by, in the Georgian era, much of the magnificence of their attire, so their snuff-boxes becameplainer and decidedly uglier. Rushing into an opposite extreme, the most outrageous receptacles for the precious dust were devised. Boxes in the shape of bibles, boots, shoes, toads, and coffins outraged public taste. The strangest materials were used in their construction; the public taste leaning towards relics possessing historical interest. Thus the mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare, the hull of the Royal George, in which 'brave Kempenfelt went down, with twice four hundred men,' and the deck of the Victory, on which Nelson died 'for England, home, and beauty,' have alone been supposed to supply material for snuff-boxes to an extent which, if known, must considerably weaken the faith of their possessors in their genuineness.

"It is perfectly vain to attempt now to penetrate into the mystery which envelopes the name and nation of the first snuff-taker: long before rough, noble-hearted Drake cured his dyspepsia by the use of tobacco, or Raleigh transplanted some roots of that precious weed into English soil, there were European noses which had rejoiced at its pulverized leaves. Conjecture, lost in the mazy distance, gladly lays hold of something substantial in the shape of snuff's first royal patron. This was Catherine de Medicis, who, receiving some seeds of the tobacco plant from a Dutch colony, cherished them, and elevated the dried and pounded leaves into a royal medicine, with the proud title of 'Herbe à la Reine.' For in the beginning men took snuff, not as an everyday luxury, but as a medicament. Like tea—which a hundred years later was advertised as a cure for every ill—the new sneezing powder was hailed a universal specific; and so pleasant in its operation, that mankind, acting upon the wholesome aphorism that prevention is much better than cure, and eagerly anticipated the disease it was supposed to remedy."

"The use of 'the pungent grains of titillating dust' received a somewhat heavy and discouraging blow from an unexpected quarter. That ubiquitous power which hurled anathemas alike at the heresies of Luther and the length of clerical wigs, discountenanced its use, and at length fairly lost its temper in the contest with snuff. Whether from a prescience of the beneficial influence it was destined to exert upon mankind, or from a suspicion of its power of sharpening intellects, it is difficult to say; but Popes Urban VIII., and Innocent waged quite a miniature crusade againstsnuff, anathematizing those who should use it in any church, and positively threatening with excommunication all impious persons who should provoke a profane sneeze within the sacred precincts of St. Peter's pile; Louis XIV., that good son of the Church, filially complied with the paternal injunction, but his courtiers were less yielding; and the ante-chamber of Versailles frequently resounded with the effects of the pleasant stimulant.

"All persecution has a distinct tendency to establish the object of its hate, and so it was with the subject of our article—it only required to be loved; and I do not doubt that, had circumstances required them, snuff would have found its martyrs. Its use was not general in England until Charles II. introduced it, upon his return from exile, with other important fashions. It had been known and used before, as had the periwig, but it was not until his reign that it became common. When the Stuarts relieved the country of their presence for the second and last time, it had become firmly established; and, by the days of good Queen Anne, was such a necessary of life, that there were in the metropolis alone no less than seven thousand shops where the snuff-boxes of the Londoners could be replenished.

"At that time, indeed, gallants were as proud of their jewelled boxes of amber, porcelain, ebony and agate as they were of their flowing wigs and clouded canes, the handles of which were not unfrequently constructed to hold the cherished dust. We are told by courtly Dick Steel, that a handsome snuff-box was as much an essential of 'the fine gentleman' as his gilt chariot, diamond ring, and brocade sword-knot. We know them to have been manufactured of the costliest material, heavy with gold and brilliant with jewels, as they needed to be when their masters carried wigs 'high on the shoulder in a basket borne,' worth forty or fifty guineas, and wore enough Flanders lace upon their persons to have stocked a milliner's stall in New England.

"Unfortunately, but very naturally, this extravagance rendered snuff a butt for the wits (who all took it, by the way), to shoot at. Steele, whose weakness for dress and show were proverbial, levelled many of his blunt shafts at its use; and Pope, who himself tells us 'of his wig all powder and all snuff his band,' let fly one of his keener arrows at the beaux, whose wit lay in their snuff-boxes and tweezer cases. As the men laid by, in the Georgian era, much of the magnificence of their attire, so their snuff-boxes becameplainer and decidedly uglier. Rushing into an opposite extreme, the most outrageous receptacles for the precious dust were devised. Boxes in the shape of bibles, boots, shoes, toads, and coffins outraged public taste. The strangest materials were used in their construction; the public taste leaning towards relics possessing historical interest. Thus the mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare, the hull of the Royal George, in which 'brave Kempenfelt went down, with twice four hundred men,' and the deck of the Victory, on which Nelson died 'for England, home, and beauty,' have alone been supposed to supply material for snuff-boxes to an extent which, if known, must considerably weaken the faith of their possessors in their genuineness.

Fancy Snuff-boxes.

"Nor has snuff itself been less liable to the rule of fashion than the boxes that held it. We will give a few familiar instances. In the naval engagement of Viga, in 1703, when a large Spanish fleet was taken or destroyed, a great quantity of musty snuff was made prize of, and patriotism ran high enough to cause the 'town' for some length of time to resist all that was not manufactured to imitate the flavor from which it took its well-known name of 'musty.' Nearer to our own time, a large tobacco warehouse having been destroyed by fire, in Dublin, a poor man purchased some of the scorched or damaged stock, and manufacturing it into coarse snuff, sold it to the poorer class of snuff-takers. Forthwith capricious fashion adopted it, endowing it with fabulous qualities, and Lundy Foot's Irish Black-guard (so it was termed) filled the most fashionable boxes."Again, during the Peninsular campaigns, in which the light division of the British army bore so memorable a part, the mixture used by and called after its gallant leader, General Sir. Amos Norcott, had a more extensive sale than any other. When Napoleon was at Elba, and folks began to tire of legitimacy, as they soon did, it became fashionable to use snuff scented with the spirit of violet, and significantly to allude to the perfume. Garrick, when he was manager ofDrury Lane Theatre, brought a mixture into fashion by using or alluding to it in one of his most famous parts. The tobacconist whom he thus favored was his under-treasurer, Hardham, whom no writer about snuff should omit to notice. He was a great favorite with Garrick, whom in his turn he almost revered. One of Hardham's most important duties was to number the house from a hole in the curtain above the stage; and it is amusing to fancy the little tobacconist, snuff-box in hand, calmly watching the pit fill, or from his elevated position admiring the histrionic talents of his gifted patron. His shop in Fleet street is also memorable. It was the general resort of theatrical men and tyros, who sought to reach the manager through his subordinates, and his little back parlor witnessed thedébutof many who afterwards gained applause from larger, though not more exacting audiences."Her Majesty Queen Charlotte has bequeathed her name to a once favorite mixture, and George the Fourth has some slight chance of being remembered by the famous 'Prince's Mixture,' which was so popular when it was the fashion to admire and imitate that gifted individual. It would be a grateful but almost an impossible task to enumerate the kings, soldiers, lawyers, poets and actors who had sought from and found in the snuff-box comfort and inspiration. Prominent among the rulers of the earth who have acknowledged the pleasing influence of snuff is Frederick the Great. His snuff-box was the pocket of the long waistcoats of that period, in which he kept large quantities loose—a dirty habit, which Napoleon, who was a great plagiarist, adopted. It would be easy to draw out a famous list of literary names attached to snuff, beginning with Dryden, who was particular enough to manufacture his own mixture, and selfish enough to preserve the secret of its excellence, with a view, probably, of enhancing the value of the pinch from his box, for which the beaux and wits at Will's intrigued."In the pulpit, at the bar, and on the stage, snuff has been equally valuable in adding to the persuasive eloquence and talent of its patrons. By the female portion of human-kind it was at one time pretty generally taken, nor was it uncommon for young and even pretty women to offer and accept a pinch in public. After the gentle sex had to a great extent given up the habit, some strong minded females were to be found who retained it. Mrs. Siddons, when she came off the stage after dying hard, as Desdemona, or harrowing the hearts of her audience by her representation of Jane Shore, couldcomposedly ask those around for a pinch of the precious restorative. When we consider the beneficial influence which snuff has exerted over mankind generally, we cannot help regretting that its virtues were not sooner known."For we put forth the proposition seriously, that its effect upon the world has been to render it more humane and even-tempered, and that had the western hemisphere discovered the tobacco plant earlier, historians would have had more pleasant events to chronicle. For instance, it is not impossible—nay, most probable—that the fate of Rome, discussed by the Triumvirate over their snuff-boxes, would have been different. Is it likely that, under the humanizing influence of mutual pinches, Antony would have asked for, or Augustus resigned, the head of Cicero to his bloodthirsty colleague; or that the other details of the conscription which deluged the streets of Rome with the blood of her best citizens, would have been agreed to? Again, can any one imagine Charles the Ninth and his evil counsellors plotting the massacre of St. Bartholomew over pinches of the soothing dust? Is it probable that the High Court of Justiciary would have entitled its royal martyr to a special service in the Book of Common Prayer, if its deliberation had been inspired by the kindly snuff which since that time has so often softened the rigor of the law? My hypothesis may seem an absurd one, but history supports it."When Charles the Second introduced snuff into general use, men's hands had scarcely adapted themselves to more peaceable occupations than cutting their neighbors' throats, and the ashes of a long and bitter civil war needed little fanning to break into a blaze again; and yet, for forty years of misgovernment the nation kept its temper. How can this forbearance be accounted for? Was it that circumstances no longer called for as stern and as effectual remedies as before? No. Was the second Charles one whit more desirable than the first of that ilk? Was Clarendon more liked than Stafford? Was Russell's head of less consequence than Prynne's ears? No. Again, wrongs as grievous as those which Hampden had died in resisting were to be avenged, but in a milder, better fashion; for mankind had in the meantime learned to take snuff. Much of the haste and irritation which had previously led to blows discharged itself in a good-natured sneeze. Snuff made men forbearing, even jocular over their wrongs. Who can doubt that the revolution which ended in placing William of Orange on his father-in-law's throne owedits bloodless character not a little to the influence of snuff. We read of difficulties in its course, which, fifty years previously, would inevitably have led to bloodshed, being easily, almost humorously surmounted. The plagued nation effected a revolution over its snuff-boxes in the happiest conceivable manner."Having ventured so far I am inclined to put forward a yet higher claim which snuff has upon our gratitude, and to hint that the great deeds of great men who were snuff-takers may be traced by a chain of reasoning—slight, yet conclusive—to this dearly prized luxury. The hackneyed saying that time is money, or money's worth, has more truth in it than most of the fallacies which are supposed to regulate our conduct. The most important events of our lives often hinge on moments. A moment to stifle passion, to summon reflection, to plunge into the past and bring up a buried memory, to consider results, is often of the utmost consequence, and this valued moment the pinch of snuff insures, when, without it, delay would be simply embarrassment. The pinch of snuff, taken at the right instant, secures an important reprieve, during which the unpleasant question may be evaded, the hasty reply reconsidered, or an angryreparteethought better of, while the same time gained serves to improve the diplomatist'sequivoque, to point the orator's satire, and polish the wit'smot. In a word, its use on important occasions affords, to every one who needs them, better means of acting upon Talleyrand's mischievous yet clever aphorism—that language is useful rather to conceal than to express our thoughts. Moreover, the action necessary in conveying the tempting graces to their destination has not unfrequently been found useful. It employs the hasty hand that may itch to take illegal vengeance for fancied insults; it serves to hide the angry twitching mouth and passionately expanding nostrils, to give a natural expression to changes of the countenance which would otherwise indicate emotion, and to parry attention till reason has been summoned to supplant passion."It is denied (in a rather irritating way sometimes) that the subject of our article has any beneficial influence upon the intellects of its patrons. We are not about to claim for it any such exalted qualities, but we may be allowed to mention a fact or so which entitles it to some respect medicinally. As we have before stated, in its early days it was considered to possess powerful healing qualities, and even now is found of use in cases of headache and weak sight. It was alsosupposed valuable in cases of heaviness and obtuseness of intellect. Is it, therefore unreasonable to presume that it may have had some share in gaining for our brethren beyond the Tweed that shrewdness of national character which has become proverbial?

"Again, during the Peninsular campaigns, in which the light division of the British army bore so memorable a part, the mixture used by and called after its gallant leader, General Sir. Amos Norcott, had a more extensive sale than any other. When Napoleon was at Elba, and folks began to tire of legitimacy, as they soon did, it became fashionable to use snuff scented with the spirit of violet, and significantly to allude to the perfume. Garrick, when he was manager ofDrury Lane Theatre, brought a mixture into fashion by using or alluding to it in one of his most famous parts. The tobacconist whom he thus favored was his under-treasurer, Hardham, whom no writer about snuff should omit to notice. He was a great favorite with Garrick, whom in his turn he almost revered. One of Hardham's most important duties was to number the house from a hole in the curtain above the stage; and it is amusing to fancy the little tobacconist, snuff-box in hand, calmly watching the pit fill, or from his elevated position admiring the histrionic talents of his gifted patron. His shop in Fleet street is also memorable. It was the general resort of theatrical men and tyros, who sought to reach the manager through his subordinates, and his little back parlor witnessed thedébutof many who afterwards gained applause from larger, though not more exacting audiences.

"Her Majesty Queen Charlotte has bequeathed her name to a once favorite mixture, and George the Fourth has some slight chance of being remembered by the famous 'Prince's Mixture,' which was so popular when it was the fashion to admire and imitate that gifted individual. It would be a grateful but almost an impossible task to enumerate the kings, soldiers, lawyers, poets and actors who had sought from and found in the snuff-box comfort and inspiration. Prominent among the rulers of the earth who have acknowledged the pleasing influence of snuff is Frederick the Great. His snuff-box was the pocket of the long waistcoats of that period, in which he kept large quantities loose—a dirty habit, which Napoleon, who was a great plagiarist, adopted. It would be easy to draw out a famous list of literary names attached to snuff, beginning with Dryden, who was particular enough to manufacture his own mixture, and selfish enough to preserve the secret of its excellence, with a view, probably, of enhancing the value of the pinch from his box, for which the beaux and wits at Will's intrigued.

"In the pulpit, at the bar, and on the stage, snuff has been equally valuable in adding to the persuasive eloquence and talent of its patrons. By the female portion of human-kind it was at one time pretty generally taken, nor was it uncommon for young and even pretty women to offer and accept a pinch in public. After the gentle sex had to a great extent given up the habit, some strong minded females were to be found who retained it. Mrs. Siddons, when she came off the stage after dying hard, as Desdemona, or harrowing the hearts of her audience by her representation of Jane Shore, couldcomposedly ask those around for a pinch of the precious restorative. When we consider the beneficial influence which snuff has exerted over mankind generally, we cannot help regretting that its virtues were not sooner known.

"For we put forth the proposition seriously, that its effect upon the world has been to render it more humane and even-tempered, and that had the western hemisphere discovered the tobacco plant earlier, historians would have had more pleasant events to chronicle. For instance, it is not impossible—nay, most probable—that the fate of Rome, discussed by the Triumvirate over their snuff-boxes, would have been different. Is it likely that, under the humanizing influence of mutual pinches, Antony would have asked for, or Augustus resigned, the head of Cicero to his bloodthirsty colleague; or that the other details of the conscription which deluged the streets of Rome with the blood of her best citizens, would have been agreed to? Again, can any one imagine Charles the Ninth and his evil counsellors plotting the massacre of St. Bartholomew over pinches of the soothing dust? Is it probable that the High Court of Justiciary would have entitled its royal martyr to a special service in the Book of Common Prayer, if its deliberation had been inspired by the kindly snuff which since that time has so often softened the rigor of the law? My hypothesis may seem an absurd one, but history supports it.

"When Charles the Second introduced snuff into general use, men's hands had scarcely adapted themselves to more peaceable occupations than cutting their neighbors' throats, and the ashes of a long and bitter civil war needed little fanning to break into a blaze again; and yet, for forty years of misgovernment the nation kept its temper. How can this forbearance be accounted for? Was it that circumstances no longer called for as stern and as effectual remedies as before? No. Was the second Charles one whit more desirable than the first of that ilk? Was Clarendon more liked than Stafford? Was Russell's head of less consequence than Prynne's ears? No. Again, wrongs as grievous as those which Hampden had died in resisting were to be avenged, but in a milder, better fashion; for mankind had in the meantime learned to take snuff. Much of the haste and irritation which had previously led to blows discharged itself in a good-natured sneeze. Snuff made men forbearing, even jocular over their wrongs. Who can doubt that the revolution which ended in placing William of Orange on his father-in-law's throne owedits bloodless character not a little to the influence of snuff. We read of difficulties in its course, which, fifty years previously, would inevitably have led to bloodshed, being easily, almost humorously surmounted. The plagued nation effected a revolution over its snuff-boxes in the happiest conceivable manner.

"Having ventured so far I am inclined to put forward a yet higher claim which snuff has upon our gratitude, and to hint that the great deeds of great men who were snuff-takers may be traced by a chain of reasoning—slight, yet conclusive—to this dearly prized luxury. The hackneyed saying that time is money, or money's worth, has more truth in it than most of the fallacies which are supposed to regulate our conduct. The most important events of our lives often hinge on moments. A moment to stifle passion, to summon reflection, to plunge into the past and bring up a buried memory, to consider results, is often of the utmost consequence, and this valued moment the pinch of snuff insures, when, without it, delay would be simply embarrassment. The pinch of snuff, taken at the right instant, secures an important reprieve, during which the unpleasant question may be evaded, the hasty reply reconsidered, or an angryreparteethought better of, while the same time gained serves to improve the diplomatist'sequivoque, to point the orator's satire, and polish the wit'smot. In a word, its use on important occasions affords, to every one who needs them, better means of acting upon Talleyrand's mischievous yet clever aphorism—that language is useful rather to conceal than to express our thoughts. Moreover, the action necessary in conveying the tempting graces to their destination has not unfrequently been found useful. It employs the hasty hand that may itch to take illegal vengeance for fancied insults; it serves to hide the angry twitching mouth and passionately expanding nostrils, to give a natural expression to changes of the countenance which would otherwise indicate emotion, and to parry attention till reason has been summoned to supplant passion.

"It is denied (in a rather irritating way sometimes) that the subject of our article has any beneficial influence upon the intellects of its patrons. We are not about to claim for it any such exalted qualities, but we may be allowed to mention a fact or so which entitles it to some respect medicinally. As we have before stated, in its early days it was considered to possess powerful healing qualities, and even now is found of use in cases of headache and weak sight. It was alsosupposed valuable in cases of heaviness and obtuseness of intellect. Is it, therefore unreasonable to presume that it may have had some share in gaining for our brethren beyond the Tweed that shrewdness of national character which has become proverbial?

Curing a Headache.

"The specimens which came in the reign of James I., southward, did not command much respect or admiration from our countrymen; indeed they were the bulls at which every satirist hurled his shafts, and blunt must have been that one which did not pierce some potent folly of language or manner. The town rang with anecdotes of their rags, beggary, and quarrels; ballad-singers made merry at their expense, and the stage resounded with uncomplimentary allusions. Indeed, in one of the most popular plays of that period, the king himself was not spared, and the actors (Ben Jonson among them) had very nearly lost their ears for their boldness. Nor was it at least for a hundred and fifty years after this period that the Scotch became noted for that enterprise and talent which now distinguish them."We do not deny that the union may have developedtheir traits, but it is clear that within that time snuff had become a national stimulant. To the observer of men and manners there is something very characteristic in the various fashions in which the pinch of snuff is taken. 'The exercise of the snuff-box,' as it was once termed, was an acknowledged science, but few were the great proficients who could mutely express their feelings by its aid. We have not space to run through all its exercise, but we may mention the 'pinch military,' which Frederick, and after him, Napoleon practiced inhaling snuff copiously, and with much waste, as though it were human life they were throwing away; the 'pinch malicious,' of which Pope was perfect master; the 'pinch dictatorial,' which burly Jonson established; the 'pinch sublimely contemptuous,' such as Reynolds took when some travelling virtuoso hinted at excellence away from Leicester-square, and ruffled his complacent vanity; and, above all, the 'pinch polite,' which Talleyrand understood so well."From snuff to sneezing is but a step, which we purpose taking before we bring this cursory article to a close. The act of sneezing appears to have been variously regarded at various stages of the world's history, but from the earliest times of which we have any authentic record, it has been the customs of those around to give vent to a short benediction immediately upon its commission. The Robbins considering themselves bound to find a reason for this universal custom, and being hard pressed, gave the somewhat incomprehensible explanation that, previous to Jacob, man sneezed but once in his lifetime, and then immediately before death; so that those around, warned of his imminent journey, hastened to wish it a good termination. How it was that Jacob instituted a new order of things we are not told, but as a proof of the truth of their assertion they give the fact that in all nations of the earth a similar custom will be found existing."Strangely enough this assertion was corroborated by the first colonists of America, who found the habit to be in common use amongst the aboriginal tribes. The Greeks and Romans certainly had a similar habit, but far from attaching any ill-omen to the sneeze they regarded it as of good augury. Thus Catullus assures us that when Cupid upon a memorable occasion sneezed, all:

"We do not deny that the union may have developedtheir traits, but it is clear that within that time snuff had become a national stimulant. To the observer of men and manners there is something very characteristic in the various fashions in which the pinch of snuff is taken. 'The exercise of the snuff-box,' as it was once termed, was an acknowledged science, but few were the great proficients who could mutely express their feelings by its aid. We have not space to run through all its exercise, but we may mention the 'pinch military,' which Frederick, and after him, Napoleon practiced inhaling snuff copiously, and with much waste, as though it were human life they were throwing away; the 'pinch malicious,' of which Pope was perfect master; the 'pinch dictatorial,' which burly Jonson established; the 'pinch sublimely contemptuous,' such as Reynolds took when some travelling virtuoso hinted at excellence away from Leicester-square, and ruffled his complacent vanity; and, above all, the 'pinch polite,' which Talleyrand understood so well.

"From snuff to sneezing is but a step, which we purpose taking before we bring this cursory article to a close. The act of sneezing appears to have been variously regarded at various stages of the world's history, but from the earliest times of which we have any authentic record, it has been the customs of those around to give vent to a short benediction immediately upon its commission. The Robbins considering themselves bound to find a reason for this universal custom, and being hard pressed, gave the somewhat incomprehensible explanation that, previous to Jacob, man sneezed but once in his lifetime, and then immediately before death; so that those around, warned of his imminent journey, hastened to wish it a good termination. How it was that Jacob instituted a new order of things we are not told, but as a proof of the truth of their assertion they give the fact that in all nations of the earth a similar custom will be found existing.

"Strangely enough this assertion was corroborated by the first colonists of America, who found the habit to be in common use amongst the aboriginal tribes. The Greeks and Romans certainly had a similar habit, but far from attaching any ill-omen to the sneeze they regarded it as of good augury. Thus Catullus assures us that when Cupid upon a memorable occasion sneezed, all:

'The little loves that waited byBowed and blessed the augury.

And in the 'Life of Themistocles,' Plutarch informs his readers that sneezing by the General on the eve of a battle was regarded as a certain sign of conquest. Strangely enough we find that in comparatively modern times, the custom of giving expression to good wishes when a friend sneezed was attributed to the fearful plague which periodically swept over Europe. Sneezing was one of its first and most dangerous symptoms, and those who were by, as they gathered their robes about them and fled from their doomed fellow-creature, would ejaculate a quick 'God bless you,' hurriedly invoking from a more merciful quarter the aid they feared to give. Violent sneezing was not only among the first, but was one of the last fatal signs of that fearful scourge, and was often too rapidly followed by death to give time for more than a short benediction. Anyhow, the custom still exists and one of the most pleasant reminiscences attached to the first pinch of snuff is the chorus of hearty good wishes of sympathizing friends which follows upon the inevitable sneeze."

Highlanders.

The variety of taste in snuff is accounted for by the proverb, "So many men to so many noses." Highland gentlemen of every degree are mostly fond of Gillespie; while operatives from the Lowlands generally prefer plain Scotch. When two Highlanders meet, they usually exchange a pinchof snuff, mutuallypreeingthe contents of theirmulls, while theircolleys, (dogs) after a fashion of their own, take a reciprocalsniffof each other. Cuba is the favorite of the gentlemen of the stock exchange; the tradesman's box usually contains rappee; high dried Irish is grateful to those who love to feel the taste of snuff in their throat. Sea-faring men seldom take snuff: a sailor with a snuff-box is as rarely to be met with as a sailor without a knife.

The history of the rise and progress of snuff-taking abounds in incidents and anecdotes, among the most curious of all that relate to the various modes of using the weed. Though once the most popular and fashionable manner of using tobacco it now falls far behind the other and more common and more popular forms of indulging in the herb. In France and Spain the introduction of tobacco ushered in this form of using it, and to inhale a few grains of the pungent dust was the delight of polished and favored courtiers who regardless of the forms royalty patronized and gave sanction to the custom. Thus its use in a short time became popular all over Europe and gave unlimited scope for the satirist and dramatist to ridicule the habit. In spite, however, of frown and ridicule this ancient custom though not now as popular or as fashionable, still claims many sincere votaries and doubtless will as long as the plant is cultivated or used in any form.[Back to Contents]

"The poet may sing of the leaf of the rose,And call it the purest and sweetest that blows;But of all the leaves that ever were tried,Give me the tobacco leaf rolled up and dried."

TThe smoking of cigars is now considered the best as it is the most fashionable mode of using the weed. The word cigar is from the Spanishcigarro, and signifies a cylindrical roll of tobacco leaves, made of short pieces or shreds of the leaves divested of the stem and wound about with a binder, and enveloped in a portion of the leaf known by the name of wrapper—acute at one end and truncated at the other. In the East Indies a sort of cigar calledcherootis also made with both ends truncated. The smoking of tobacco in the form of cigars is doubtless the most general as well as the most ancient mode of its use. When Columbus landed in Hispaniola, the sailors saw the natives smoking the leaves of a plant, "the perfume of which was fragrant and grateful." But while cigars are of very ancient origin in the West Indies, they were not generally known in Europe until the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. In fact, of all the various works on gastronomy and the pleasures of the table, written and published from 1800 to 1815, not one speaks of this now indispensable adjunct of a good dinner. Even Britlat-Savarin, in hisPhysiologie du Gout, entirely ignores tobacco and all its distractions and charms. Benzo gives the following account of the manufacture of a cigar in Hispaniola:—

The smoking of cigars is now considered the best as it is the most fashionable mode of using the weed. The word cigar is from the Spanishcigarro, and signifies a cylindrical roll of tobacco leaves, made of short pieces or shreds of the leaves divested of the stem and wound about with a binder, and enveloped in a portion of the leaf known by the name of wrapper—acute at one end and truncated at the other. In the East Indies a sort of cigar calledcherootis also made with both ends truncated. The smoking of tobacco in the form of cigars is doubtless the most general as well as the most ancient mode of its use. When Columbus landed in Hispaniola, the sailors saw the natives smoking the leaves of a plant, "the perfume of which was fragrant and grateful." But while cigars are of very ancient origin in the West Indies, they were not generally known in Europe until the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. In fact, of all the various works on gastronomy and the pleasures of the table, written and published from 1800 to 1815, not one speaks of this now indispensable adjunct of a good dinner. Even Britlat-Savarin, in hisPhysiologie du Gout, entirely ignores tobacco and all its distractions and charms. Benzo gives the following account of the manufacture of a cigar in Hispaniola:—

"They take a leafe from the stalks of their great bastard corn (which we commonly called Turkie—wheat) together with one of these tobacco-leaves and fold them up together like a coffin of paper, such as grocers make to put spices in, or like a small organ-pipe. Then putting one end of the same coffin to the fire, and holding the other end in their mouths, they draw their breath to them. When the fire hath once taken at the pipe's end, they draw forth so much smoke that they have their mouth, nose, throat, and head full of it; and, as if they tooke a singular delight therein they never leave supping and drinking till they can sup no more, and thereby loose their breath and their feeling."

Sahagun, in his "History of New Spain," speaks of the natives as using the leaves of tobacco rolled into cigars, which they ignite and smoke in tubes of tortoise-shell or silver. The following article from theNew York Timescontains much valuable information in regard to cigars, especially Havanas:

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