the pleasure the Turks had in the reverie consequent on the indulgence in the pipe consisted in a contemporary annihilation of thought. The people really cease to think when they have been long smoking. I have asked Turks repeatedly what they have been thinking of during their long reveries, and they replied ‘Of nothing.’ I could not remind them of a single idea having occupied their minds; and in the consideration of the Turkish character there is no more curious circumstance connected with their moral condition. Further testimony to Nicotiana’s benign sway over human character is borne by Mr. E. W. Lane, the talented translator of the _Arabian Nights_ and author of the _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_. In this latter work Mr. Lane says that in the character of the Turks and Arabs who have become addicted to its use it has induced considerable changes, particularly rendering them more inactive than they were in earlier times, leading them to waste over the pipe many hours which might be more profitably employed; but it has had another and better effect—that of superseding in a great measure the use of wine, which, to say the least, is very injurious to the health of the inhabitants of hot climates.… It may further be remarked in the way of apology for the pipe, as employed by the Turks and Arabs, that the mild kinds of tobacco generally used by them have a gentle effect; they calm the nervous system, and, instead of stupefying, sharpen the intellect.