ode of using it. Sambo is never more contented
than when he burns the weed in a cob pipe, and draws the
delicious smoke through an elder sprig or mullen stem. But
the maid is happiest of all when with her lover she sits
face to face, and they 'dip' together from the same magic
plant--tobacco.

"In every walk of life throughout the sunny South tobacco in
some form may be found, and its effects are always the same,
whether drawn from the pocket of the beggar or taken with
gloved fingers from the golden tobacco-box of the planter.
For snuff the ladies have very nice round boxes with lids
which, they always carry with them full of black snuff
highly but pleasantly flavored. They also carry little
brushes or sticks about three inches long with pliable ends;
these they wet in the mouth, then dip into the snuff-box,
and then place it in the mouth outside of the gums and rub
earnestly for two or three minutes. 'Will you dip with me?'
is the usual way of putting the invitation, when the box is
drawn from the pocket and rapped slightly on the cover,
sometimes by all present, who thus signify their readiness
to 'dip,' then it is repassed open to all, and the 'dipping
and rubbing' begins in earnest.

[Illustration: Snuff-dipping.]

"The only advantage I ever discovered in this unnatural way
of snuffing is in avoiding all unpleasant sneezing which
snuffing is sure to produce, although it is claimed that it
whitens and preserves the teeth and sweetens the mouth, and
produces a beneficial effect on the lungs, all of which is
true or not, just as you choose to believe. 'Will you dip
and rub with me?' said one of the prettiest belles of
Winchester, and in another city in another state the
daughter of an ex-governor, handing me a silver-tipped brush
and opening a rose-wood snuff-box richly inlaid with gold,
politely asked me to 'dip' with her, expressing the belief
that friendship would always follow. I have frequently been
asked by ladies when travelling through the country and
stopping at farm-houses, if I used tobacco--as a hint to
offer them some, and it was a pleasure to comply, and
receive the thankful smile of an appreciative heart."

[Illustration: Snuffers.]

In other parts of the country the habit of snuff-taking is confined
principally