the functions of the labyrinthine caverns of the nose and forehead, and of the delicate osseous laminae which constitute the sounding-boards of vocalization, are thus destroyed. chewing is the most constant, as it is the nastiest habit. the old chewer, safe in the blunted irritability of the salivary glands, can continue his practice all night, if he be so infatuated, without inconvenience. in masticating tobacco, nicotin and nicotianin are rolled about in the mouth with the quid, but are not probably so quickly absorbed as when in the gaseous state. yet chewers are the greatest spitters, and have a characteristic drooping of the angle of the lower lip, which points to loss of power in the _leavator_ muscles. latakia, shiraz, manila, cuba, virginia, and maryland produce the most valuable tobaccoes. though peculiar soils and dressings may impart a greater aroma and richness to the plant, by the variations in the quantity of nicotianin, as compared with the other organic elements, yet we are inclined to think that the diminished proportion of nicotin in the best varieties in the cause of their superior flavor to the rank northern tobaccoes, and that it is mainly because they are milder that they are most esteemed. so, too, the cigar improves with age, because a certain amount of nicotin evaporates and escapes. taste in cigars varies, however, from the austrian government article, a very rank long-nine, with a straw running through the centre to improve its suction, to the cuban _cigarrito_, whose ethereal proportions three whiffs will exhaust. the manufacture of smoking-tobaccoes is as much and art in germany as getting up a fancy brand of cigars is here; and the medical philosopher of that country will gravely debate whether kanaster or varinas be best suited for certain forms of convalescence; tobacco being almost as indispensable as gruel, in returning health. we think the light pipe-smoker will find a combination of german and turkish smoking-tobaccoes a happy thought. the old smoker may secure the best union of delicacy and strength in the virginia natural leaf. among the eight or ten species of the tobacco-plant now recognized by botanists, the _nicotiana tabacum_ and the _nicotiana rustica_ hold the chief place. numerous varieties of each of these, however, are named and exist. we condense from de bows industrial resources of the south and west a brief account of tobacco-culture in this country. the tobacco is best sown from the 10th to the 20th of march, and a rich loam is the most favorable soil. the plants are dressed with a mixture of ashes, plaster, soot, salt, sulphur, soil, and manure. after they are transplanted, we are told that the soil best adapted to the growth of tobacco is a light, friable one, or what is commonly called a sandy loam; not too flat, but rolling, undulating land. long processes of hand-weeding must be gone through, and equal parts of plaster and ashes are put on each plant. worms are the worst enemy, and can be effectually destroyed only by hand. when the plant begins to yellow, it is time to put it away; and it is cut off close to the ground. after wilting a little on the ground, it is dried on sticks, by one of the three processes called pegging, spearing, and splitting. when dry, the leaves are stripped off and tied in bundles of one fifth or sixth of a pound each. it is sorted into three or four qualities, as yellow, bright, dull, etc. next it is bulked, or put into bundles, and these again dried, and afterwards conditioned, and packed in hogsheads weighing from six hundred to a thousand pounds each. it would be too long to detail the processes of cigar- and snuff-making, the latter of which is quite complicated. we were happy to learn from the fearful work of hassall on food and its adulterations, that tobacco was one of the articles least tampered with; and particularly that there was no opium in cheroots, but nothing more harmful than hay and paper. he ascribes this immunity mainly to the vigilance of the excisemen. but we have recently seen a work on the adulteration of tobacco, whose microscopic plates brought back our former misgivings. molasses is a very common agent used to give color and render it toothsome. various vegetable leaves, as the rhubarb, beech, walnut, and mullein, as well as the less delectable bran, yellow ochre, and hellebore, in snuff, are also sometimes used to defraud. saltpetre is often sprinkled on, in making cigars, to improve their burning. the indians mixed tobacco in their pipes with fragrant herbs. cascarilla bark is a favorite with some smokers; it is a simple aromatic and tonic, but, when smoked, is said sometimes to occasion vertigo and intoxication. we have before observed that tobacco is a very exhausting crop to the soil. the worn-out tobacco-plantations of the south are sufficient practical proof of this, while it is also readily explained by chemistry. the leaves of tobacco are among the richest in incombustible ash, yielding, when burned, from 19 to 28 _per cent_. of inorganic substance. this forms the abundant ashes of tobacco-pipes and of cigars. all this has been derived from the soil where it was raised, and it is of a nature very necessary to vegetation, and not very abundant in the most fertile lands. every ton of dried tobacco-leaves carries off from four to five hundred-weight of this mineral matter,as much as is contained in fourteen tons of the grain of wheat. it follows that scientific agriculture can alone restore this waste to the tobacco-plantation. there is one other aspect of this great subject, which is almost peculiar to new england, the home of reform. certain puritanical pessimists have argued that the use of tobacco is immoral. there are few, except our own sober people, who would admit this question at all. we would treat this prejudice with the respect due to all sincere reforms. and we have attempted to show, that, since all races have used and will use narcotics, we had better yield a little, lest more be taken, and concede them tobacco, which is more harmless than many that are largely consumed. we have proved to our own satisfaction, and we hope to theirs, that tobacco _in moderation_ neither affects the health nor shortens life; that it does not create an appetite for stimulants, but rather supplies their place; and that it favors sociality and domestic habits more than the reverse. if the formation of any habit be objected to, we reply, that this is a natural tendency of man, that things become less prejudicial by repetition, and that a high hygienic authority advises us to be regular even in our vices. as we began in a light, we close in a more sober vein, apologists for tobacco, rather than strongly advocating either side