put upon a cat's tongue killed the cat, I
resolved to master this vicious propensity for poison. For six months
I neither smoked, snuffed, nor chewed. But it came back somehow. Care,
I think, revived it, and every body knows that care, as well as
tobacco, killed a cat. A man might as well be killed one way as
another. We must all eat our peck of dirt, and in some shape or other
swallow our peck of poison. One learned gentleman proves that tobacco
is poison; another, that coffee and tea are equally fatal; another,
that meat is no better, and so on; our food and drink are pretty much
composed of poison, so that we are constantly killing ourselves, and
the result is, we die at last. Still, it is marvelous how long some
people survive all these deadly stimulants; how fat and hearty the
Germans are in spite of their meerschaums; how wonderfully the French
survive their strong coffee; how the Russians deluge their stomachs
with hot tea and yet still live; how the English get over their porter
and brown stout; and how long it takes the various poisons to which
the various nations of the earth are addicted to produce any sensible
diminution in the population. Sometimes I am inclined to think people
would die if they never ate a particle of any thing--either food or
poison. It seems to be one of those debts that we incur on coming into
the world, and can only discharge by going out of it.

All of which leads you gradually to the main point--my experience in
Norway. First, however, I must tell you that on my arrival in Europe,
not being able to find a plug of genuine Cavendish, I was forced to
satisfy the cravings of this morbid appetite by nibbling bad cigars.
But a new difficulty soon became manifest--there was not a spot in all
Germany where it was possible to get rid of a quid without attracting
undue attention. No man likes to be stared at as an outlaw against the
recognized decencies of life. One may smoke cigars under a lady's
nose, dress like a popinjay, or kiss his bearded friend in most
Continental cities, but he must not chew tobacco, because it is
considered a barbarous and filthy habit. He may guzzle beer, take
snuff, and wear dirty shirts, but if he would avoid reproach as an
unclean animal he must abandon his quids. Now, as a general rule, I
dislike to violate public sentiment, or inconvenience people with whom
I associate. If they are nonsensical and inconsistent in their
notions, I agree with them for the sake o