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Snuff and its Manufacture


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Although snuffing is not a national custom in America, the quantity of nuff mr de and used every year, is far greater than the majority of our people have any knowledge of, or than we could have oelieved, until we made some enquiries, and gathered up some information on the subject. But first let us explain its manufacture. The leaves of tobacco intended for snuff are sorted and prepared with a sauce, which is different in some countries and manufactories. It is composed of sugar, some saltpetre and salammonia, and partially fermented, and the leaves are then tied up in bunches, in which state they are most portable and better for preservation. In England nothing but common salt is allowed to be added to snuff, and this is the custom here. In France, the tobacco used for snuff is generally of a superior character. It is first cut up with a revolving fktilveg', fixd'dti a wheel, after which it is heaped in great masses in wooden bins in a large chamber for fermentation. A pip is introduced into the mass and the thermometer placed in it to regulate the heat. This process generally lasts for a number oj months. When the temperature rises to 176, acid, carbonate of ammonia aiid nicotine are given off. The air is excluded as much as possible, otherwise acetic acid by lermentation would take place. The mass must be carefully watched that it be not converted into humus. The whole is then ground in mills represented in the annexed figures, which are sections of the mill used in the French go vernment manufactory. Figure 1 shows the exterior cast metal casing, G, with its lining of thin iron blades, which are kept in their position by wedges of wood, //. In figure 2 F is the revolving grinder, it is made of cast-iron with projecting segments held tight by an iron collar, c, M is the shaft box, and E is the shaft, to which motion is communicated, causing the grinder to revolve, and thus reduce the tobacco to snuff in the mill, a kind of bark mill. The whole apparatus may be of cast iron, and th !. f to' acco ground quite damp, when goir f through the mill. e In England there are pestle njills; thei s which have pestles receive a motjo n by mj r chinery and grind up the tobacco (which 1 quite i.y for this operation)/uito fine snuj 1, like grinding any substance With a pestle i :, a mortar. The pestle is iron, and the mortc - wood, but this snuff is first ground coarse ur f der horizontal millstones; it is much prize for its particular grain by some connoissei f snuff-takers. Snuff can be colored with lo wood and scented with various kinds of oil There are particular mixtures for differei snuffers; some like one kind and some anc ther. The famous Lundy-foot Irish snuff wa made out of dried tobacco which was suppc sed to be over-dried—too much roasted. ] was the means, however, of making the loi tune of its Dublin manufacturer. No less tha 37,422 lbs. of snuff were exported from th United States last year; but the home con sumption is far greater than this; more is ma nufactured, we believe, by a single firm inthi city, that cf Lorillard, the oldest snuff-makin I house in the United States, it having manu factured snuff before the revolution. There are few Americans, as we said be fore, who take snuff, but many Germans an Frenchmen in the United States use it. Ther are different kinds manufactured, such a Macaboy, Rappee, Lundy-foot, and Scotc. snuff. More of the latter is used than an; other, not for snuffing, but for other purposes In some of our Southern States the fenale use the Scotch snuff to clean their teeth, an excite their gums after meals by using th snuff along with a tooth stick. Tons of snu: are shipped from New York for North Caro lina and Georgia to be used for this purpost This snuff is also ex r *vely employe for destroying vermin on vines, plants, &c It is very dry and fine, but how it came t get its name is a query. Perhaps it was th kind manufactured by Gilbert Stuart's fathe] the first snuff machine mechanic who erectei snuff mills in the colonies, and who was en gaged in Scotland to come here for that pur pose. It is the general custom in Scotland t( grind their snuff very dry, and the attendant on the mills have a most disagreeble and un healthy avocation. At one time the Scotc] Highlanders were represented to be grea snuffers, and it may be that some of the oh settlers in Tennessee, who made their owi snuff in their own natural mills, by dryin; the tobacco leaves, and then rubbing them t( powder between the hands—real Lundy-foo —gave it the name which it now retains, bu which is unknown as a snuff-taken snuff h Scotland at the present day, where there ar( ten smokers for one snuffer. There are large snuff manufactories in Phil-adelphia, Baltimore, and some other places, ai well as New York, but we have not been abh to obtain a correct account of the amouni manfactured yearly. We have received sue! information, however, as makeanrfBtrust al published statistics, they come %ort of tbt mark in giving the quantitijiffifty mill capable of grinding up tobacco! eaves into pow-der is capable of making snuff. The color tc any degree of darkness after the tobacco is ground is given by moistening it with a weal solution of the sulphate of iron, and then stir-ring it up well and adding logwood liquor until it is of the desired shade. Tonca beans and odiferous oils are employed to scent some snuffs, but such oils are not safe to use, they affect the brain and often produce vertigo. Lundy-foot is the safest snuff to use, because almost, it not all the nicotine is expelled by the partial roasting of the leaves. Snufiing. however, is a queer custom when a person reflects upon it, but not more so than smoking.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 10This article was published with the title “Snuff and its Manufacture” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 10 (), p. 80
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican11201852-80b

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