TOBACCO, a very important plant, belonging to the natural order Atropa cece, or night-shade order. The introduc tion of the use of tobacco forms a singu lar chapter in the history of mankind. According to some authorities smoking was practised by the Chinese at a very early date. At the time of the discovery of America, tobacco was in frequent use among the Indians, and the practice of smoking, which had with them a relig ious character, was common to almost all the tribes (see CALUMET) . The name of tobacco was either derived from the term used in Haiti to designate the pipe, or from Tabaca in Santo Domingo, whence it was introduced into Spain and Portugal in 1559 by a Spaniard. It soon found its way to Paris and Rome, and was first used in the shape of snuff. Smoking is generally supposed to have been introduced into England by Sir Wal ter Raleigh, but Camden says the prac tice was introduced by Drake and his companions on their return from Vir ginia in 1585. It was strongly opposed by both priests and rulers. Pope Ur ban VIII. and Innocent XI. issued bulls excommunicating such as used snuff in church, and in Turkey smoking was made a capital offense. In the canton of Bern the prohibition of the use of tobacco was put among the 10 commandments immediately after that forbidding adul tery. The "Counterblast" or denuncia tion written by James I. of England is a matter of history. All prohibitions, however, regal or priestly, were of no avail, and tobacco is now the most ex tensively used luxury on the face of the earth.
The most commonly cultivated tobacco plant (Nicotiana tabacum) is glutinous, and covered with a very short down; the stem upright, four or five feet high, and branching; the leaves are lanceolate, from 6 to 18 inches long; the flowers are terminal and rose-colored. A less es teemed species is N. rustica, distinguish ed by a short yellowish-green corolla.
The best Havana cigars are made from the leaves of N. repanda. All the to bacco plants are natives of America, and that continent has continued the prin cipal producer, the chief tobacco-grow ing country being the United States, and the chief localities being Virginia and Kentucky. It was first cultivated in Hol land early in the 17th century, and soon extended to other countries, including Austria, Germany, Russia, the Balkan Peninsula, Asiatic Turkey, France, Brit ish India, Cuba, Brazil, the Philippine Islands, Japan, and Australia. The cul tivation in Great Britain was forbidden from an early date till 1866, when it was permitted under certain conditions.
Tobacco owes its principal properties to the presence of a most poisonous al kaloid named NICOTINE (q. v.). In the manufacture of tobacco the leaves are first thoroughly cleansed with salt and water. The midrib of the leaf is then removed; the leaves are again sorted, and the large ones set apart for making cigars. The leaves may either be cut finely for use in pipes, as is the case with "shag" tobacco, or they are moistened and pressed into cakes, which are desig nated cavendish; or they are pressed into sticks, as negrohead; or again the leaves may be spun in the form of a rope of greater or less thickness; the smallest twist is called pigtail. The midribs, sep arated in the first process of manufac ture, are preserved to be converted into SNUFF (q. v.). Cigars, cigarettes, and cheroots are favorite forms of manufac tured tobacco. As the best leaf is grown in Cuba, so also are the best cigars made there. The leaf used for the manufac ture of Manila cheroots is grown chiefly on the island of Luzon. The production of tobacco in the United States in 1920 was 1,476,444,000 pounds.