The Seven Sisters of Sleep: Popular History of the Seven Prevailing Narcotics of the WorldCooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
History
The Seven Sisters of Sleep: Popular History of the Seven Prevailing Narcotics of the World
Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
Drug abuse; Narcotics; Psychotropic drugs; Psychotropic plants; Tobacco use
The mailed Spaniard and red-plumed Indian have fought around it; and
gold-seekers have drenched it with the gore of negroes. One whole
continent has been enriched by it; and to cultivate it, another
continent has been depopulated. Negroes have prayed to their Fetishes
beside it—many a Cacique now dead smoked it at the war-council, and
many a grave, grey-bearded Spaniard, who had fought at Lepanto, or
bled in the Low Countries. Old soldiers of Cromwell have smoked it;
and while Indians have bartered their gold for English beads, the
swarthy Buccaneers looked on, handling their loaded muskets. Tobacco
was for some time used as currency in Virginia, as, according to Mr.
Galton, is the case now among the Damarás, Ovampo, and other tribes of
South-Western Africa.
Forty varieties of tobacco have been described; but the differences are
mainly the result of climate, and the mode of culture. It grows well
in almost every part of the world. The northern limit in Scandinavia
is 62°-63° N. L. The different parts of America in which it is grown
include Canada, New Brunswick, United States, Mexico, the Western
Coast, as far as 40° S. L. In Africa it is cultivated by the Red Sea
and Mediterranean, in Egypt, Algeria, the Canaries, the Western Coast,
the Cape, and numerous places in the interior. In Europe, it has been
raised successfully in almost every country; in Hungary, Germany,
Flanders, and France, it forms an important agricultural product.
In Asia, it has spread over Turkey, Persia, India, Thibet, China,
Japan, the Philippines, Java, and Ceylon. In parts of Australia and
New Zealand. From the Equator to 50° N. L., it may be raised without
difficulty. The finest qualities are raised between 15° and 35° N. L.
The most noted tobacco is that of Cuba; and the most extensive growers
are the Americans of the United States. Two-thirds of our supply is
doubtless derived from the latter source.
In 1665, Virginia exported to England 60,000 pounds. Twenty-five years
afterwards, our total imports were double that amount; while in 1858,
they amounted to 62,217,705 pounds, including snuff and cigars; hence,
we may fairly calculate that, in Great Britain, eight millions of
pounds sterling are annually spent in tobacco.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account