Chapter VIII: Snuff, Snuff-Boxes and Snuff-Takers (1)

The custom of snuff-taking is as old at least as the discovery of the tobacco plant. The first account we have of it is given by Roman Pane, the friar who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage of discovery (1494), and who alludes to its use among the Indians by means of a cane half a cubit long. Ewbank says:

"Much has been written on a revolution so unique in its
origin, unsurpassed in incidents and results, and
constituting one of the most singular episodes in human
history; but next to nothing is recorded of whence the
various processes of manufacture and uses were derived. Some
imagine the popular pabulum[56] for the nose of translantic
origin. No such thing! Columbus first beheld smokers in the
Antilles. Pizarro found chewers in Peru, but it was in the
country discovered by Cabral that the great sternutatory was
originally found. Brazilian Indians were the Fathers of
snuff, and its best fabricators. Though counted among the
least refined of aborigines, their taste in this matter was
as pure as that of the fashionable world of the East. Their
snuff has never been surpassed, nor their apparatus for
making it."

[Footnote 56: Dr. John Hill in his tract "Cautions
against the immoderate use of snuff" gives the following
definition of it. "The dried leaves of tobacco, rasped,
beaten, or otherwise reduced to powder, make what we
call snuff." This tract was published in 1761. The
author, afterwards Sir John Hill, was equally celebrated
as a physician and a writer of farces, as denoted by the
following epigram by Garrick:

"For physic and farces his equal there scarce is;
His farces are physic, his physic a farce is."]

Soon after the introduction and cultivation of tobacco in Spain and Portugal its use in the form of snuff came in vogue and from these notions it spread rapidly over Europe, particularly in France and Italy. It is said to have been used first in France[57] by the wife of Henry II., Catherine de Medici, and that it was first used at court during the latter part of the Sixteenth Century. The Queen seemed to give it a good standing in society and it soon became the fashion to use the powder by placing a little on the back of the hand and inhaling it. The use of snuff greatly increased from the fact of its supposed medicinal properties and its curative powers in all diseases, particularly those affecting the head, hence the wide introduction of snuff-taking in Europe. Fairholt says of its early use:

[Footnote 57: An English writer gives a different
account--"The custom of taking snuff as a nasal
gratification does not appear to be of earlier date than
1620, though the powdered leaves of tobacco were
occasionally prescribed as a medicine long before that
time. It appears to have first become prevalent in
Spain, and from thence to have passed into Italy and
France."]

"Though thus originally recommended for adoption as a
medicine, it soon became better known as a luxury and the
gratification of a pinch was generally indulged in Spain,
Italy and France, during the early part of the Seventeenth
Century. It was the grandees of the French Court who 'set
the fashion' of snuff, with all its luxurious additions of
scents and expensive boxes. It became common in the Court of
Louis le Grand, although that monarch had a decided
antipathy to tobacco in any form."

Says an English writer "Between 1660 and 1700, the custom of
taking snuff, though it was disliked by Louis XIV., was
almost as prevalent in France as it is at the present time.
In this instance, the example of the monarch was
disregarded; _tobac en poudre_ or _tobac rape_[58] as snuff
was sometimes called found favor in the noses of the French
people; and all men of fashion prided themselves on carrying
a handsome snuff-box. Ladies also took snuff; and the belle
whose grace and propriety of demeanour were themes of
general admiration, thought it not unbecoming to take a
pinch at dinner, or to blow her pretty nose in her
embroidered _mouchoir_ with the sound of a trombone. Louis
endeavored to discourage the use of snuff and his
valets-de-chambre were obliged to renounce it when they were
appointed to their office. One of these gentlemen, the Duc
d'Harcourt, was supposed to have died of apoplexy in
consequence of having, in order to please the king, totally
discontinued the habit which he had before indulged to
excess."

[Footnote 58: Grated tobacco.]

Other grandees were less accommodating: thus we are told that Marechal d'Huxelles used to cover his cravat and dress with it. The Royal Physician, Monsieur Fagon, is reported to have devoted his best energies to a public oration of a very violent kind against snuff, which unfortunately failed to convince his auditory, as the excited lecturer in his most enthusiastic moments refreshed his nose with a pinch.

Although disliked by the most polished prince of Europe, the use of snuff increased and soon spread outside the limits of the court of France and in a short time became a favorite mode of using tobacco as it continues to be with many at this day.[59] The snuff-boxes of this period were very elegant and were decorated with elaborate paintings or set with gems. It was the custom to carry both a snuff-box and a tobacco grater, which was often as expensive and elegant as the snuff-box itself. Many of them were richly carved and ornamented in the most superb manner. Others bore the titles and arms of the owner and it was considered as part of a courtier's outfit to sport a magnificent box and grater. The French mode of manufacturing snuff was to saturate the leaves in water, then dry them and color according to the shade desired. The perfume was then added and the snuff was prepared for use. The kind of tobacco used was "Tobac de Virginie." Spanish snuff was perfumed in the same manner with the additional use of orange-flower water. Carver gives the mode of manufacturing snuff in America (1779).

[Footnote 59: The Rev. S. Wesley speaking of the abuses
of tobacco, intimates that the human ear, will not long,
remain exempted from its affliction.

"To such a height with some is fashion grown
They feed they very nostrils with a spoon.
One, and but one degree is wanting yet,
To make their senseless luxury complete;
Some choice regale, useless as snuff and dear,
To feed the mazy windings of the ear."]

"Being possessed of a tobacco wheel, which is a very simple
machine, they spin the leaves, after they are properly
cured, into a twist of any size they think fit; and having
folded it into rolls of about twenty pounds weight each,
they lay it by for use. In this state it will keep for
several years, and be continually improving, as it every
hour grows milder. When they have occasion to use it, they
take off such a length as they think necessary, which, if
designed for smoking, they cut into small pieces, for
chewing into larger, as choice directs; if they intend to
make snuff of it they take a quantity from the roll, and
laying it in a room where a fire is kept, in a day or two it
will become dry, and being rubbed on a grater will produce a
genuine snuff. Those in more improved regions who like their
snuff scented, apply to it such odoriferous waters as they
can procure, or think most pleasing."

Dutch snuff was only partially ground, and was therefore coarse and harsh in its effects when inhaled into the nostrils. The Irish, according to Everards, used large quantities of snuff "to purge their brains." Snuff-taking became general in England[60] at the commencement of the Seventeenth Century, and scented snuffs were used in preference to the plain. Frequent mention is made in the plays of this time of its use and varieties. In Congreve's "Love for Love," one of the characters presents a young lady with a box of snuff, on receipt of which she says, "Look you here what Mr. Tattle has given me! Look you here, cousin, here's a snuff-box; nay, there's snuff in't: here, will you have any? Oh, good! how sweet it is!"

[Footnote 60: "The custom of taking snuff was probably
brought into England by some of the followers of Charles
II., about the time of the Restoration. During his
reign, and that of his brother, it does not appear to
have gained much ground: but towards the end of the
Seventeenth Century it had become quite the "rage" with
beaux, who at that period, as well as in the reign of
Queen Anne, sometimes carried their snuff in the hollow
ivory heads of their canes."--_A Paper of Tobacco._]

Portuguese snuff seemed to be in favor and was delicately perfumed. It was made from the fibres of the leaves, and was considered among many to be the finest kind of the "pungent dust." Some varieties of snuff were named after the scents employed in flavoring them. In France many kinds became popular from the fact of their use at court, and by the courtiers throughout the kingdom. Pope notes the use of the snuff-box by the fops and courtiers of his time in this manner:--

"Sir Plume of amber snuff-box justly vain,
And the nice conduct of a clouded cane;
With earnest eyes, and round, unthinking face,
He first the snuff-box open'd, then the case."

The mode of "tapping the box" before opening was characteristic of the beaux and fops of this period, and is commented on in a poem on snuff:--

"The lawyer so grave, when he opens his case,
In obscurity finds it is hid,
Till the bright glass of knowledge illumines his face,
As he gives the three taps on the lid."

Spain, Portugal, and France early in the Seventeenth Century became noted as the producers of the finest kinds of snuff. In Spain and Portugal it was the favorite mode of using tobacco, and rare kinds were compounded and sold at enormous prices. Its use in France by the fair sex is thus commented on by a French writer:--

"Everything in France depends upon _la mode_; and it has
pleased _la mode_ to patronize this disgusting custom, and
carry about with them small boxes which they term
_demi-journées_."

The most expensive materials were employed in the manufacture of snuff-boxes, such as agate, mosaics, and all kinds of rare wood, while many were of gold, studded with diamonds. Some kinds were made of China mounted in metal, and were very fanciful. In "Pandora's Box," a "Satyr against Snuff," 1719, may be found the following description of the snuff-boxes then in vogue:

"For females fair, and formal fops to please,
The mines are robb'd of ore, of shells the seas,
With all that mother-earth and beast afford
To man, unworthy now, tho' once their lord:
Which wrought into a box, with all the show
Of art the greatest artist can bestow;
Charming in shape, with polished rays of light,
A joint so fine it shuns the sharpest sight;
Must still be graced with all the radiant gems
And precious stones that e'er arrived in Thames.
Within the lid the painter plays his part,
And with his pencil proves his matchless art;
There drawn to life some spark or mistress dwells,
Like hermits chaste and constant to their cells."

Some of the more highly perfumed snuffs sold for thirty shillings a pound, while the cheaper kinds, such as English Rappee and John's Lane, could be bought for two or three shillings per pound. There are at least two hundred kinds of snuff well known in commerce. The Scotch and Irish snuffs are for the most part made from the midribs; the Strasburgh, French, Spanish, and Russian snuffs from the soft parts of the leaves. An English writer gives the following account of some of the well-known snuffs and the method of manufacturing:--

"For the famous fancy snuff known as Maroco, the recipe is
to take forty parts of French or St. Omer tobacco, with
twenty parts of fermented Virginia stalks in powder; the
whole to be ground and sifted. To this powder must be added
two pounds and a half of rose leaves in fine powder; and the
whole must be moistened with salt and water and thoroughly
incorporated. After that it must be 'worked up' with cream
and salts of tartar, and packed in lead to preserve its
delicate aroma. The celebrated 'gros grain Paris snuff' is
composed of equal parts of Amersfoort and James River
tobacco, and the scent is imported by a 'sauce,' among the
ingredients of which are salt, soda, tamarinds, red wine,
syrup, cognac, and cream of tartar."

The mode of manufacture of snuff now is far different than that employed in the Seventeenth Century. Then the leaves were simply dried and made fine by rubbing them together in the hands, or ground in some rude mill; still later the tobacco was washed or cleansed in water, dried, and then ground. Now, however, the tobacco undergoes quite a process, and must be kept packed several months before it is ground into snuff. One of the most celebrated manufacturers of snuff was James Gillespie, of Edinburgh, who compounded the famous variety bearing his name. The following account of him we take from "The Tobacco Plant:"--

"In the High Street of Edinburgh, a little east from the
place where formerly stood the Cross,--

"'Dun-Edin's Cross, a pillar'd stone,
Rose on a turret octagon,'

was situated the shop of James Gillespie, the celebrated
snuff manufacturer. The shop is still occupied by a
tobacconist, whose sign is the head of a typical negro, and
in one of the windows is exhibited the effigy of a
Highlander, who is evidently a competent judge of
'sneeshin.' Not much is known regarding the personal history
of James Gillespie, but it is understood that he was born
shortly after the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, at Roslin, a
picturesque village about six miles from Edinburgh. He
became a tobacconist in Edinburgh, along with his brother
John, and by the exercise of steady industry and frugality,
he was enabled to purchase Spylaw, a small estate in the
parish of Colinton, about four miles from Edinburgh, where
he erected a snuff-mill on the banks of the Water of Leith,
a small stream which flows through the finely-wooded grounds
of Spylaw. The younger brother, John, attended to the shop,
while the subject of our notice resided at Spylaw, where he
superintended the snuff-mill. Mr. Gillespie was able to
continue his industrious habits through a long life, and
having made some successful speculations in tobacco during
the war of American Independence, when the 'weed' advanced
considerably in price, he was enabled to increase his Spylaw
estate from time to time by making additional purchases of
property in the parish.

"Mr. Gillespie remained through life a bachelor. His
establishment at Spylaw was of the simplest description. It
is said that he invariably sat at the same table with his
servants, indulging in familiar conversation, and entering
with much spirit into their amusements. Newspapers were not
so widely circulated at that period as they are now, and on
the return of any of his domestics from the city, which one
of them daily visited, he listened with great attention to
the 'news, and enjoyed with much zest the narration of any
jocular incident that had occurred. Mr. Gillespie had a
_penchant_ for animals, and their wants were carefully
attended to. His poultry, equally with his horses, could
have testified to the judicious attention which he bestowed
upon them. A story is told of the familiarity between the
laird and his riding horse, which was well-fed and full of
spirit.

"The animal frequently indulged in a little restive
curvetting with its master, especially when the latter was
about to get into the saddle. 'Come, come,' he would say, on
such occasions, addressing the animal in his usual quiet
way, 'hae dune, noo, for ye'll no like if I come across your
lugs (ears) wi' the stick.'

"Even in his old age Mr. Gillespie regularly superintended
the operations in the mill, which was situated in the rear
of his house. On these occasions he was wrapped in an old
blanket ingrained with snuff. Though he kept a carriage he
very seldom used it, until shortly before his death, when
increasing infirmities caused him occasionally to take a
drive. It was of this carriage, plain and neat in its
design, with nothing on its panel but the initials 'J. G.'
that the witty Henry Erskine proposed the couplet--

'Who would have thought it
That noses had bought it?'

as an appropriate motto. In those days snuff was much more
extensively used than at present, and Mr. Gillespie was in
the habit of gratuitously filling the 'mulls' of many of the
Edinburgh characters of the last century. Colinton appears
to have been a great snuff-making centre. About thirty years
ago there were five snuff mills in operation in the parish,
the produce of which was sold in Edinburgh. Even now a
considerable quantity of snuff is made in the district,
chiefly by grinders to the trade."

Murray, alluding to the popularity of the custom in England during the reign of the House of Brunswick, says:--

"The reigns of the four Georges may be entitled the snuffing
period of English history. The practice became an appanage
of fashion before 1714, as it has continued after 1830, to
be the comfort of priests, literary men, highlanders,
tailors, factory hands, and old people of both sexes. George
IV. was a nasute judge of snuffs, and so enamoured of the
delectation, that in each of his palaces he kept a jar
chamber, containing a choice assortment of tobacco powder,
presided over by a critical superintendent. His favorite
stimulant in the morning was violet Strasburgh, the same
which had previously helped Queen Charlotte to 'kill the
day'--after dinner Carrotte--named from his _penchant_ for
it. King's Carrotte, Martinique, Etrenne, Old Paris, Bureau,
Cologne, Bordeaux, Havre, Princeza, Rouen, and Rappee, were
placed on the table, in as many rich and curious boxes."

Sterne, in his "Sentimental Journey," gives a pleasing description of snuff-taking with the poor monk. He writes:

"The good old monk was within six paces of us, as the idea
of him crossed my mind; and was advancing towards us a
little out of the line, as if uncertain whether he should
break in upon us or no. He stoop'd, however, as soon as he
came up to us with a world of frankness; and having a horn
snuff-box in his hand, he presented it open to me.

"'You shall taste mine,' said I, pulling out my box (which
was a small tortoise one), and putting it into his hand.

"''Tis most excellent,' said the monk.

"'Then do me the favor,' I replied 'to accept of the box and
all, and when you take a pinch out of it, sometimes
recollect it was the peace-offering of a man who once used
you unkindly, but not from his heart.'

"The poor monk blushed as red as scarlet, 'Mon Dieu?' said
he, pressing his hands together, 'you never used me
unkindly.'

"'I should think,' said the lady, 'he is not likely.'

I blushed in my turn; but from what motives, I leave to the
few who feel to analyze. 'Excuse me, madam,' replied I, 'I
treated him most unkindly, and from no provocations.'

"''Tis impossible,' said the lady.

"'My God!' cried the monk, with a warmth of asseveration
which seemed not to belong to him, 'the fault was in me, and
in the indiscretion of my zeal.'

"The lady opposed it, and I joined with her in maintaining
it was impossible, that a spirit so regulated as his could
give offence to any. I knew not that contention could be
rendered so sweet and pleasurable a thing to the nerves as I
then felt it. We remained silent, without any sensation of
that foolish pain which takes place when, in a circle, you
look for ten minutes in one another's faces without saying a
word.

"Whilst this lasted, the monk rubb'd his horn box upon the
sleeve of his tunic; and as soon as it had acquired a little
air of brightness by the friction, he made a low bow and
said, 'twas too late to say whether it was the weakness or
goodness of our tempers which had involved us in this
contest, but be it as it would, he begg'd we would exchange
boxes. In saying this, he presented this to me with one, as
he took mine from me in the other; and having kissed it,
with a stream of good nature in his eyes, he put it into his
bosom, and took his leave. I guard this box as I would the
instrumental parts of my religion, to help my mind on to
something better: in truth I seldom go abroad without it;
and oft and many a time have I called up by it the
courteous spirit of its owner, to regulate my own in the
jostlings of the world; they had found full employment for
his, as I learnt from his story, till about the forty-fifth
year of his age, when upon some military services
ill-requited, and meeting at the same time with a
disappointment in the tenderest of passions, he abandoned
the sword and the sex together, and took sanctuary, not so
much in his convent as in himself. I feel a damp upon my
spirits, as I am going to add, that in my last return
through Calais, upon inquiring after Father Lorenzo, I heard
he had been dead near three months, and was buried, not in
his convent, but according to his desire, in a little
cemetery belonging to it about two leagues off. I had a
strong desire to see where they had laid him, when, upon
pulling out his little horn box, as I sat by his grave, and
plucking a nettle or two at the head of it, which had no
business to grow there, they all struck together so forcibly
upon my affections that I burst into a flood of tears--but I
am as weak as a woman; I beg the world not to smile, but
pity me."

Many pleasing effusions have been written promoted doubtless by a sneeze among which the following on "A pinch of Snuff" from "The Sportsman Magazine," exhibits the custom and the benefits ascribed to its indulgence.

"With mind or body sore distrest,
Or with repeated cares opprest,
What sets the aching heart at rest?
A pinch of snuff!

"Or should some sharp and gnawing pain
Creep round the noddle of the brain,
What puts all things to rights again?
A pinch of snuff!

"When speech and tongue together fail,
What helps old ladies in their tale,
And adds fresh canvass to their sail?
A pinch of snuff!

"Or when some drowsy parson prays,
And still more drowsy people gaze,
What opes their eyelids with amaze?
A pinch of snuff!

"A comfort which they can't forsake,
What is it some would rather take,
Than good roast beef, or rich plum cake?
A pinch of snuff!

"Should two old gossips chance to sit,
And sip their slop, and talk of it,
What gives a sharpness to their wit?
A pinch of snuff!

"What introduces Whig or Tory,
And reconciles them in their story,
When each is boasting in his glory?
A pinch of snuff!

"What warms without a conflagration
Excites without intoxication,
And rouses without irritation?
A pinch of snuff!

"When friendship fades, and fortune's spent,
And hope seems gone the way they went,
One cheering ray of joy is sent--
A pinch of snuff!

"Then let us sing in praise of snuff!
And call it not such 'horrid stuff,'
At which some frown, and others puff,
And seem to flinch.

"But when a friend presents a box,
Avoid the scruples and the shocks
Of him who laughs and he who mocks,
And take a pinch!"

From "Pandora's Box" from which we have already quoted, we extract the following in which the use of snuff is deprecated by the author:

--"now, 'tis by every sort
And sex adored, from Billingsgate to court.
But ask a dame 'how oysters sell?' if nice,
She begs a pinch before she sets a price.
Go thence to 'Change, inquire the price of Stocks;
Before they ope their lips they open first the box.
Next pay a visit to the Temple, where
The lawyers live, who gold to Heaven prefer;
You'll find them stupify'd to that degree,
They'll take a pinch before they'll take their fee.
Then make a step and view the splendid court,
Where all the gay, the great, the good resort;
E'en they, whose pregnant skulls, though large and thick,
Can scarce secure their native sense and wit,
Are feeding of their hungry souls with pure
Ambrosial snuff. * * * *
But to conclude: the gaudy court resign,
T' observe, for once, a place much more divine,
When the same folly's acted by the good,
And is the sole devotion of the lewd;
The church, more sacred once, is what we mean,
Where now they flock to see and to be seen;
The box is used, the book laid by, as dead,
With snuff, not Scripture, there the soul is fed;
For where to heaven the hands by one of those,
Are lifted, twenty have them at the nose;
And while some pray, to be from sudden death
Deliver'd, others snuff to stop their breath."

Paolo Mantegazza, one of the most brilliant and witty of Italian writers on tobacco, says of its use and "some of the delights that may be imagined through the sense of smell:"--

"Human civilization has not yet learned to found on the
sense of smell aught but the moderate enjoyment derived from
snuffing, which, confined within the narrow circle of a few
sensations, renders us incapable of entering into the most
delicate pleasures of that sense.

"Snuff procures us the rapture of a tactile irritation, of a
slight perfume; but, above all, it furnishes the charm of an
intermittent occupation which soothes us by interrupting,
from time to time, our labor. At other times it renders
idleness less insupportable to us, by breaking it into the
infinite intervals which pass from one pinch of snuff to
another. Sometimes our snuff-box arouses us from torpor and
drowsiness; sometimes, it occupies our hands when in society
we do not know where to put them or what to do with them.
Finally, snuff and snuffing are things which we can love,
because they are always with us; and we can season them with
a little vanity if we possess a snuff-box of silver or of
gold, which we open continually before those who humbly
content themselves with snuff-boxes of bone or of wood. We
gladly concede the pleasures of snuffing to men of all
conditions, and to ladies who, having passed a certain age,
or who, being deformed, have no longer any sex; but we
solemnly and resolutely refuse the snuff-box to young and
beautiful women, who ought to preserve their delicate and
pretty noses for the odors of the mignonette and the rose."

With royalty snuff has been a prime favorite. Charles III. of Spain had a great predilection for rappee snuff, but only indulged his inclination by stealth, and particularly while shooting, when he imagined himself to be unnoticed. Frederick the Great and Napoleon[61] both loved and used large quantities of the "pungent dust." Of the former the following anecdote is related:--

[Footnote 61: Napoleon, having been unable to undergo
the ordeal of a first pipe, stigmatized it us a habit
only fit to amuse sluggards. What he renounced in
smoking, however, he compensated in snuff.]

"The cynical temper of Frederick the Great is well known.
Once when his sister, the Duchess of Brunswick, was at
Potsdam, Frederick made to the brave Count Schwerin the
present of a gold snuff-box. On the lid inside was painted
the head of an ass. Next day, when dining with the king,
Schwerin, with some ostentation, put his snuff-box on the
table. Wishing to turn the joke against Schwerin, the king
called attention to the snuff-box. The Duchess took it up
and opened it. Immediately she exclaimed, 'What a striking
likeness! In truth, brother, this is one of the best
portraits I have ever seen of you.' Frederick, embarrassed,
thought his sister was carrying the jest too far. She passed
the box to her neighbor, who uttered similar expressions to
her own. The box made the round of the table, and every one
was fervently eloquent about the marvelous resemblance. The
king was puzzled what to make of all this. When the box at
last reached his hands, he saw, to his great surprise, that
his portrait was really there. Count Schwerin had simply,
with exceeding dispatch, employed an artist to remove the
ass's head, and to paint the king's head instead. Frederick
could not help laughing at the Count's clever trick, which
was really the best rebuke of his own bad taste and want of
proper and respectful feeling."

"As Frederick William I., of Prussia, was eminently the
Smoking King, so his son Frederick the Great was eminently
the Snuffing King. Perhaps smoking harmonizes best with
action; and it might, without much stretch of fancy, be
shown that as the Prussian monarchy was founded on tobacco
smoke, it flourished on snuff. Possibly, if Napoleon the
Great, who like Frederick the Great, was an excessive
snuffer, had smoked as well as snuffed, he might have
preserved his empire from overthrow, seeing that smoking
steadies and snuffing impels. The influences of smoking and
snuffing on politics and war are ascertainable. What the
effect of chewing is on political and military affairs, it
is not so easy to discover. We recommend the subject for
meditation to the profoundest metaphysicians. How many of
the American politicians and generals have been chewers as
well as snuffers and smokers? Is there to be some mysterious
affinity between chewing and the revolutions, especially the
social revolutions of the future? May not apocalyptic
interpreters be able to show that chewing is the symbol of
anarchy and annihilation?"

When first used in Europe snuff was made ready for use by the takers--each person being provided with a box or "mill," as they were termed, to reduce the leaves to powder.

In connection with this, the following may not be irrelevent:--

The following anecdote of Huerta the celebrated Spanish guitarist, is taken from one of M. Ella's programmes:--

"In the year 1826 the famous Huerta, who astonished the
English by his performances on the guitar, was anxious to be
introduced to the leader of the Italian Opera Band--a
warm-hearted and sensitive Neapolitan--Spagnoletti. The
latter had a great contempt for guitars, concertinas, and
other fancy instruments not used in the orchestra. He was
fond of snuff, had a capacious nose, and, when irritated,
would ejaculate '_Mon Dieu!_' On my presenting the vain
Spaniard to Spagnoletti, the latter inquired, 'Vat you
play?' Huerta--'De guitar-r-r, sare.' Spagnoletti--'De
guitar! humph!' (takes a pinch of snuff.) Huerta--'Yeas,
sare, de guitar-r-r, and ven I play my _adagio_, de tears
shall run down both side your pig nose.' 'Vell den,' (taking
snuff,) said Spagnoletti, 'I vill not hear your _adagio_.'"

The anecdote related of Count de Tesse, a celebrated courtier of France, is one of the best of its kind:--

"Count de Tesse, Marshal of France, was an eminent man
during the reign of Louis XIV. Though he was a brave soldier
and by no means an incompetent general, yet he was more
remarkable as a skillful diplomatist and a pliant and
prosperous courtier. During the War of Succession in Spain,
he besieged Barcelona with a considerable army, in the
spring of 1705. Terrible was the assault, and terrible was
the resistance. At the end of six weeks the arrival of the
British fleet, and reinforcements thrown into the place,
forced Marshal Tesse to retire. Besides immense losses in
dead and wounded, he had to abandon two hundred and twenty
cannon and all his supplies. Incessantly fighting for
fifteen days in his retreat towards the Pyrenees, he lost
three thousand more of his men. It ought to be said, in
vindication of Tesse, that he undertook the siege by express
and urgent command of the French King, and contrary to his
own judgment; for in writing to a friend, he said: 'If a
Consistory were held to decide the infallibility of the
King, as Consistories have been held to decide the
infallibility of the Pope, I should by my vote declare His
Majesty infallible. His orders have confounded all human
science.'

"Soon after the siege of Barcelona, a lady at a fashionable
party took out her snuff-box and offered a pinch to any one
who wished it. Marshal Tesse approached to take a pinch; but
suddenly the lady drew her snuff-box back, saying, 'For you,
Marshal, the snuff is too strong--it is Barcelona.'"

In Scotland the dry kinds of snuff are in favor and are esteemed as highly as the moister snuffs. Robert Leighton gives the following pen picture of the snuff-loving Scotchman; it is entitled "The Snuffie Auld Man:"--

"By the cosie fire-side, or the sun-ends o' gavels,
The snuffie auld bodie is sure to be seen.
Tap, tappin' his snuff-box, he snifters and sneevils,
And smachers the snuff frae his mou' to his een.
'Since tobacco cam' in, and the snuffin' began,
There hasna been seen sic a snuffie auld man.

"His haurins are dozen'd, his een sair bedizzened.
And red round the lids as the gills o' a fish;
His face is a' bladdit, his sark-breest a' smaddit.
As snuffie a picture as ony could wish.
He makes a mere merter o' a' thing he does,
Wi' snuff frae his fingers an' drops frae his nose.

"And wow but his nose is a troublesome member--
Day and nicht, there's nae end to its snuffie desire:
It's wide as the chimlie, it's red as an ember,
And has to be fed like a dry-whinnie fire.
It's a troublesome member, and gi'es him nae peace,
Even sleepin', or eatin', or sayin' the grace.

"The kirk is disturbed wi' his hauckin' and sneezin'
The dominie stoppit when leadin' the psalm;
The minister, deav'd out o' logic and reason,
Pours gall in the lugs that are gapi' for balm.
The auld folks look surly, the young chaps jocose,
While the bodie himsel' is bambazed wi' his nose.

"He scrimps the auld wife baith in garnal and caddy
He snuffs what wad keep her in comfort and ease;
Rapee, Lundyfitt, Prince's Mixture, and Toddy,
She looks upon them as the worst o' her faes.
And we'll see an end o' her kooshian nar
While the auld carle's nose is upheld like a Czar."

Sharp has written some verses founded upon the following singular anecdote in Dean Ramsay's "Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character:"

"The inveterate snuff-taker, like the dram-drinker, felt
severely the being deprived of his accustomed stimulant, as
in the following instance: A severe snow-storm in the
Highlands, which lasted for several weeks, having stopped
all communication betwixt neighboring hamlets, the
snuff-boxes were soon reduced to their last pinch. Borrowing
and begging from all the neighbors within reach were first
resorted to, but when these failed all were alike reduced to
the longing which unwillingly abstinent snuff-takers alone
know. The minister of the parish was amongst the unhappy
number; the craving was so intense that study was out of the
question, and he became quite restless. As a last resort,
the beadle was dispatched through the snow, to a neighboring
glen, in the hope of getting a supply; but he came back as
unsuccessful as he went. 'What's to be done, John? was the
minister's pathetic inquiry. John shook his head, as much as
to say that he could not tell, but immediately thereafter
started up, as if a new idea occurred to him. He came back
in a few minutes, crying, 'Hae!' The minister, too eager to
be scrutinizing, took a long deep pinch, and then said,
'Whour did you get it?' 'I soupit (swept) the poupit,' was
John's expressive reply. The minister's accumulated
superfluous Sabbath snuff now came into good use."

"Near the Highlands,
Where the dry lands
Are divided into islands,
And distinguish'd from the mainland
As the Western Hebrides.

"Stormy weather,
Those who stay there,
Oftentimes for weeks together
Keep asunder from their neighbors,
Hemm'd about by angry seas.

"For, storm-batter'd,
Boats are shattered,
And their precious cargoes scatter'd
In the boist'rous Sound of Jura,
Or thy passage, Colonsay;

"While the seamen,
Like true freemen,
Battle bravely with the Demon
Of the storm, who strives to keep them
From their harbor in the bay.

"For this reason
One bad season,
(If to say so be not treason,)
In an island town the people
Were reduced to great distress.

"Though on mainland
They would fain land,
They were storm-bound in their ain land,
Where each luxury was little,
And grew beautifully less.

"But whose sorrow,
That sad morrow,
When no man could beg or borrow
From a friend's repository,
Equall'd theirs who craved for snuff.

"But, most sadden'd,
Nearly madden'd
For the lack of that which gladden'd
His proboscis, was the parson,
Hight the Rev'rend Neil Macduff.

"If a snuffer,
Though no puffer,
You may guess what pangs he'd suffer
In his journey through a snow-drift,
Visiting a neighboring town.

"From his rushing
For some sneishing;
But his choring and his fishing
Could procure no Toddy's Mixture,
Moist Rappee, or Kendal Brown.

"In his trouble--
Now made double,
Since his last hope proved a bubble--
To his aid came Beadle Johnnie,
In his parish right-hand man.

"With a packet,
Saying, Tak' it,
It's as clean as I can mak' it,
If ye'd save yer snuff on Sabbath
A toom box ye needna scan.

"Being lusty
(Though 'twas musty)
To his nose the snuff so dusty
Put the minister, too much in want,
The gift to scrutinize.

"An idea
He could see a
Blessing in this panacea;
So he took such hearty pinches as brought
Tears into his eyes.

"Then to Johnnie,
His old cronie,
Cried--'I fear'd I'd ne'er get ony.'
'Well, I'll tell ye,' said the beadle,
'Whaur I got the stock of snuff.'

"'In the poupit
Low I stoopit,
An' the snuff and stour I soupit,
Then I brocht ye here a handfu',
For ye need it sair enough.'"

The old Scottish snuff-mill, which consisted of a small box-like receptacle into which fitted a conical-shaped projection with a short, strong handle was a more substantial affair than the rasp used by the French and English snuff-takers. (See page 232). Both, answered the purpose for which they were designed, the leaves of tobacco being "toasted before the fire," and then ground in the mill as it was called. The more modern snuff-mill is similar in shape, but is used to hold the snuff after being ground, rather than for reducing the leaves to a powder.

Boswell gives the following poem on snuff, in his "Shrubs of Parnassus:"

"Oh Snuff! our fashionable end and aim!
Strasburg, Rappee, Dutch, Scotch, what'eer thy name,
Powder celestial! quintessence divine!
New joys entrance my soul while thou art mine.
Who takes--who takes thee not! where'er I range,
I smell thy sweets from Pall Mall to the 'Change.
By thee assisted, ladies kill the day,
And breathe their scandal freely o'er their tea;
Nor less they prize thy virtues when in bed,
One pinch of thee revives the vapor'd head,
Removes the spleen, removes the qualmish fit,
And gives a brisker turn to female wit,
Warms in the nose, refreshes like the breeze,
Glows in the herd and tickles in the sneeze.
Without it, Tinsel, what would be thy lot!
What, but to strut neglected and forgot!
What boots it for thee to have dipt thy hand
In odors wafted from Arabian land?
Ah! what avails thy scented solitaire,
Thy careless swing and pertly tripping air,
The crimson wash that glows upon thy face,
Thy modish hat, and coat that flames with lace!
In vain thy dress, in vain thy trimmings shine,
If the Parisian snuff-box be not thine.
Come to my nose, then, Snuff, nor come alone,
Bring taste with thee, for taste is all thy own."

There seems to be as great a variety of design in snuff-boxes as among pipes and tobacco-stoppers. The Indians of both North and South America have their mills for grinding or pulverizing the leaves. In the East a great variety of snuff-boxes may be seen; they are made of wood and ivory, while many of them have a spoon attached to the box, which they use in taking the dust from the box to the back of the hand, whence it is taken by the forefinger and conveyed to the nose. In Europe we find greater variety of design in snuff-boxes than in the East. In Europe they are made of the most costly materials, and studded with the rarest gems.

In the East they are made of ivory, wood, bamboo, and other materials. Of late years boxes made of wood from Abbotsford or some other noted place have been used for the manufacture of snuff-boxes. Formerly when snuff-taking was in more general use by kings and courtiers than now--a magnificent snuff-box was considered by royalty as one of the most valuable and pleasing of "memorials." Many of these testimonials of friendship and regard were of gold and silver, and set with diamonds of the finest water.

Among the anecdotes of celebrated snuff-takers, the following from White's "Life of Swedenborg," will be new to many:

"Swedenborg took snuff profusely and carelessly, strewing it
over his papers and the carpet. His manuscripts bear its
traces to this day. His carpet set those sneezing who shook
it. One Sunday he desired to have it taken up and beaten.
Shearsmith objected, 'Better wait till to-morrow,' 'Dat be
good! dat be good!' was his answer."

We copy the following article on the manufacture of snuff from a well-known English journal, "Cope's Tobacco Plant:"--

"Although snuff is still extensively consumed in this
country (Great Britain), the mode of its manufacture is very
little known to those who use it; and there are very few
persons of even the most inquisitive turn of mind who can
say they have ever penetrated into the mysterious precincts
of a snuff-mill. Even those who have been privileged, and
have had the courage to inspect the interior of such an
establishment, have come away with very vague notions of
what they saw. The hollow whirr of the revolving pestles,
the hazy atmosphere closely resembling a London fog in
November, a phenomenon which is produced by the innumerable
particles of tobacco floating about, and causing the gas to
flicker and sparkle in a mysterious way, and producing a
lively irritation of the mucous membrane, all combine in
placing the visitor in a state of amusing bewilderment, and
he is compelled to make a speedy exit, having only had just
a running peep at the interesting process of snuff-making.
It is therefore our duty to give a description of a process
which will be new to a large number of people, and will help
to clear up some of the obscure theories that a great many
more entertain of it.

"Those persons who have travelled on the Continent, and who
have noticed on tobacconists' counters a small machine,
somewhat like a coffee-mill, which a man works with one
hand, while he holds a hard-pressed plug of tobacco about a
pound weight against the revolving grater, and produces
snuff while the snuff-taker waits for it, may imagine that
snuff in England is produced on a somewhat similar small
scale. But this, like many kindred theories, is quite a
mistake. In this country there exist large snuff-mills
worked by steam power, and in Scotland there is one
water-mill which is driven by a water-power of the strength
of thirty horses. The grinding of snuff is at present
carried on much as it was one hundred years ago. The
apparatus, although effective, is very primitive, and would
lead one to suppose that mechanical ingenuity had wholly
neglected to trouble itself about improving that branch of
machinery.

"All kinds of snuff are made from tobacco leaves, or tobacco
stalks, either separate or mixed. This in the first instance
goes through a kind of fermentation, and, like the basis of
soup at the modern hotels, forms, as it were, the stock from
which all the varieties in flavor and appearance are
produced by special treatment and flavoring. Of course the
strength and pungency of the snuff will depend a good deal
upon the richness of the tobacco originally put aside for
it. About one thousand pounds of tobacco would form an
ordinary batch of snuff. The duty on this would amount to
about £150, and this has to be paid before the tobacco is
removed from the bonded warehouse. Having got his heap of
material ready, the snuff-maker moistens it, then places it
in a warm room and covers it over with warm cloths--coddles
it, as it were, to make it comfortable, so that the cold air
cannot get to it--and the heap is then left for three or
four weeks, as the case may be, to ferment.

"In France, where, under the Imperial _régime_, snuff-making
was a Government monopoly, the tobacco was allowed to
ferment for twelve or eighteen months; and in the principal
factory (that at Strasburg) might have been seen scores of
huge bins, as large as porter vats, all piled up with
tobacco in various stages of fermentation. The tobacco,
after being fermented, if intended for that light, powdery,
brown-looking snuff called S. P., is dried a little; or if
for Prince's Mixture, Macobau, or any other kind of Rappee,
is at once thrown into what is called the mull. The mull is
a kind of large iron mortar weighing about half a ton and
lined with wood; and there is a heavy pestle which travels
round it, forming, as it were, a large pestle and mortar.

These mulls are placed in rows and shut up in separate cupboards, to keep in the dust. The snuff-maker wanders from one to the other, and feeds them as they require.

"When the grinding of the snuff is completed it is then
ready for flavouring, and in this consists the great art and
secret of the trade. Receipts for peculiar flavors are
handed down from father to son as most valuable heir-looms,
and these receipts are in fact a valuable property in many
instances, for so delicate is the nose of your snuff-taker
that he can detect the slightest variation in the
preparation of his favorite snuff. It is related of one old
snuff-maker in London, who had acquired a handsome fortune
and retired from business, that he made it a consideration
with his successors that he should be allowed, so long as he
lived, to attend one day in the week at the business and
flavor all the snuff. Most people will also be familiar with
some one of the numerous versions of the origin of the once
famous Lundy Foote Snuff, better known as 'Irish
Blackguard.'

"The excise are very rigid in their laws for regulating the
manufacture of snuff; and with the exception of a little
common salt, which is added to make the tobacco keep, and
alkalies for bringing out the flavor, nothing is allowed to
be used but a few essential oils. And here we must digress
for a moment to correct a popular error, viz., that snuff
contains ground glass, put there for titillating purposes.
What appears to be ground glass is only the little crystals
or small particles of alkali that have not been dissolved.
So that fastidious snuff-takers may dismiss this bugbear at
once and forever.

"The essential oils referred to form a very expensive item
to the manufacture of snuff. The ladies would be much
surprised to see a dusty snuff-maker drain off five pounds'
worth of pure unadulterated otto-of-roses into a tin can,
and as they (the ladies) would suppose, throw it away on a
heap of what would appear to them rubbishy dust in one
corner of the snuff-room. Of course the ladies would
consider the proper place for it to be on the cambric
handkerchief, but this idea would be about the last to occur
to your matter-of-fact snuff-maker.

"In addition to otto-of-roses, the scent-room contains great
jars of essence of lemon, French geranium, verbena, oil of
pimento, bergamotte, etc., all of which are used in the
various flavoring combinations. There would most likely also
be a few hundred-weight of fine Tonquin beans, and one of
these beans is generally presented to any visitor who drops
in, as souvenir to carry away in his waistcoat pocket. Snuff
is very extensively used in the mills and factories of
Lancashire. Those who toil long in heated and noisy mills
seem to require, and doubtless do require, tobacco in some
shape or other to keep them from flagging; and as chewing is
not polite, and smoking in a mill not allowed, the only
resource left to the operative is his snuff. A singular
feature connected with this is, we believe, the fact that
spinners in very few instances use snuff-boxes, they prefer
having their supply of snuff screwed up in a piece of paper.
One retail shop-keeper in a busy spinning town in Lancashire
assured us that he retailed over four hundred weight of
snuff a week in pennyworths.

"It is impossible to state the exact quantity of snuff used
in this country; but, as far as we can arrive at it from
statistics at hand, we should say it cannot be less than
five hundred tons per annum. This seems an enormous
quantity, considering the comparatively small number of
persons who now use snuff; but the great bulk of snuff seems
to be consumed by particular communities, such as the
Lancashire operatives, and the consumption of it is
therefore not generally observable; and further it should be
remembered that those who do take snuff, individually use
large quantities."

Snuff-manufacturing has in some cases been attended with considerable affluence. One instance is the London manufacturer already mentioned, whose profits accumulated to the extent of nearly a quarter of a million; another is the Lundy Foote business, and the third a Scotch manufacturer (Gillespie), who by the way, practised a bit of benevolence, in the shape of building an hospital, in return for the good things fortune had sent him. Of course an hospital, like many other things, may have a doubtful origin, as witness the famous Guy's, which stands as a lasting monument to the wonderful profits that used to be made out of the iniquitous advance note system. But we do not by any means wish to make comparisons which must be odious and although the profits of snuff-manufacturing are for a variety of reasons--amongst others the decreased consumption of the manufactured article--not nearly as large as they were fifty years ago; yet we are sure that the fortunes accumulated by some of the old snuff-makers were the result of honest, upright industry.

Of European tobacco used in the manufacture of snuff that of Holland and France (St. Omer) is considered to be equal to any grown in Europe. Of the varieties grown in America, Virginia leaf is used quite extensively for some grades of snuff and "good stout rich snuff leaf" commands excellent prices and meets with a ready sale.

A writer gives the following account of the love the Terra Del Fuegians have for tobacco.

"This morning we were up early, a large party going ashore
for various scientific purposes, and the others taking the
ship out in the channel to do a little dredging; both
parties were very successful, and added much to our
collection. As we on the shore were about ready to come off,
we were visited by a party of Fuegians, five men, four
women, and nine children, with three dogs. They came in an
English-built boat, stolen or lost from some English ship.
The men and dogs landed and came towards us with a great
frankness of manner. They could talk neither English nor
Spanish, except the few words, boat, fire, tobac, galleto,
arco. But they understood the imperial manner of one of our
officers, who said quietly but firmly, 'keep back those
dogs,' and immediately drove back the barking curs with
sticks and stones. They warmed themselves at our fire, and
seemed disposed to be very civil and friendly. We gave them
our remaining biscuit, and what little tobacco there was in
our party to spare. One of them accepted a pinch of snuff
and pretended to sneeze, crying 'Hatchee!' with mock
solemnity.

An old man sat down on a stone and sang to us a low, sweet
recitation, or chant, in wild key, or mode, ending on a
rising melody with each stanza.

They followed us to the ship, and we gave them some calico
and beads, and tobacco, and also bought bows and arrows, and
a sea-urchin, paying them in tobacco. They clung to the ship
as we got under way, men and women, crying, 'Tobacco!' and
frantic to catch any fragment of the precious weed thrown to
them. But at length they let go, and we left the bay with
the cry of tobacco ringing in our ears."