SOMETHING ABOUT SMOKING

New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 193, 5 March 1943, Page 2

SOMETHING ABOUT SMOKING

y= think you'll be interested to hear something about tobacco, In most countries the habit of smoking is on the increase. Often, no doubt, you hear tall views about it-one that it’s harmless, and the other that it’s a vicious and dirty practice. re is a recent talk on the subject by Anthony Weymouth, from * the BBC Science Notebook.

HAT happens when you apply a match or the flame of a lighter to a cigar, a cigarette, or a pipe? And what is there in smoking that makes it so attractive? Well, here’s the answer to the first question. When tobacco is burned, it produces carbonic acid and water, as well as organic substances released by heat. These evaporate rapidly, and are condensed in very minute particles much in the same way as steam is condensed in thé spout of a kettle. The colour of tobacco smoke, which may be white or bluey white, depends on the quantity of these substances and the rapidity at which they are condensed. Now we hear a lot about the -alcoholoid of tobacco, nicotine — but most of the nicotine is destroyed in the burning, and only a small quantity reaches the smoker. It’s just as well this is so, for one ordinary cigar contains enough nicotine to poison two men. A tenth of a grain of nicotine will kill a medium-sized dog, and a quarter of an ounce of mild tobacco contains enough nicotine to poison, say, 20 or 30 dogs. The principal products of the burning of tobacco are ammonia and oil, and a dark, bitter resin. It’s the oil which produces the odour of stale tobacco, and the resin which gives rise to the bitter taste which pipe smokers experience when they let their pipes get foul. The least harmful method of smoking is undoubtedly by a pipe made of an absorbent material such as clay or meerchaum, and the most poisonous is the last inch of a strong cigar. What about cigarettes? Well, here we must take into

accoupt two additional factors: the product formed by the burning of the paper and the fact

that nearly all cigarette smokers ine hale. Both these may cause irritation of the throat. Is’-tobacco smoking harmful? The answer isn’t easy. Some people smoke continuously through their lives with little if any bad effects, and others are very easily upset. Now it seems to me to be a question of temperament, or if you prefer it, of susceptibility. If your reaction to tobacco is nil or nearly nil, smoking can scarcely be said to be a vice so far as you are concerned. But if it upsets your digestion or your nerves, makes you sleepless or gives you a chtonic cough, in this case I am afraid you must frankly admit that it is harmful. So the real question is: What is there so attractive in tobacco smoking? First of all, it has a definite sedative effect. Heavy smokers who give up the habit nearly always complain of feeling jumpy and irritable until they get accustomed to the absence of the drug. Then again there is a phase in smoking in which it acts as a stimulant-certainly to the menta! processes. Taste buds on the back of the tongue are acted on by tobacco smoke-so are the mucous mems branes of the nose and throat. The pase sage of the smoke across the lining membrane is followed by a feeling of profound satisfaction. Some people who are accustomed to tobacco can only cone centrate when they’re smoking.