“Ah ha! um h’m! ah ha!  But surely those were rare cases?”

“I think not very.”

“You don’t think the majority of those who use it feel any ill effects?”

“I do indeed; though probably comparatively few are aware that tobacco is the cause of their ailments.”

“Doubtless that is the case,” remarked Mr. Dinsmore.  “I was a moderate smoker for years before I discovered that I was undermining my constitution by the indulgence; at length, however, I became convinced of that fact, and gave it up at once:  for that reason and for the sake of the example to my boy here, who has been willing to profit by his father’s experience, and abstain altogether.”

“I have never used the weed in any way,” said Horace, Jr.

“And I,” remarked Travilla, “abandoned its use about the same time that Dinsmore did, and for the same reasons.  By the way, I met with a very strong article on the subject, lately, which I cut out and placed in my pocket-book.”

“Ah ha! um h’m! suppose you give us the benefit of it,” suggested Lilburn good naturally, “I’m open to conviction.”

“With all my heart, if you will step into the gentlemen’s cabin where there’s a light.”

He led the way, the others all following, and taking out a slip of paper read from it in a distinct tone, loud enough to be heard by those about him, without disturbing the other passengers.

“’One drop of nicotine—­extract of tobacco—­placed on the tongue of a dog, will kill him in a minute; the hundredth part of a grain picked under the skin of a man’s arm, will produce nausea and fainting.  That which blackens old tobacco pipes is empyreumatic oil, a grain of which would kill a man in a few seconds.

“’The half dozen cigars which most smokers use a day, contain six or seven grains—­enough, if concentrated and absorbed, to kill three men, and a pound of tobacco, according to its quality, contains from one-quarter to one and a quarter ounces.

“’Is it strange, then that smokers and chewers have a thousand ailments? that German physicians attribute one half of the deaths among the young men of that country to tobacco? that the French Polytechnic Institute had to prohibit its use on account of its effects on the mind? that men grow dyspeptic, hypochondriac, insane, delirious from its use?

“’One of the direct effects of tobacco is to weaken the heart.  Notice the multitude of sudden deaths and see how many are smokers and chewers.  In a small country town seven of these ‘mysterious providences’ occurred within the circuit of a mile, all directly traceable to tobacco; and any physician, on a few moments’ reflection, can match this fact by his own observation.

“’And then such powerful acids produce intense irritation and thirst—­thirst which water does not quench.  Hence a resort to cider and beer.  The more this thirst is fed, the more insatiate it becomes, and more fiery drink is needed.