Smoking warning in 18th century note

Wednesday 10 October 2012

A NEWLY discovered letter, which showed that doctors were aware of the dangers of smoking as early as the 18th century, has been sold at auction.

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The remarkable warning was made by medical student William Adams, who wrote to his father, an attorney, from his lodgings at Edinburgh University in 1799.

The letter was found in an archive of documents and was sold by Mullock's auction house at Ludlow racecourse, Shropshire, for £200.

Mr Adams graphically describes the dangers of tobacco long before the science that finally convinced the world that smoking was not good for health.Mr Adams had learned that his infirm mother had ignored his own advice and instead listened to an old woman who had told her to smoke a pipe of tobacco every day.Clearly frustrated with his mother's refusal to follow his advice, he tells his father that she might as well "get drunk on opium".He wrote: "You will perceive that some foolish old woman has done more perhaps in half-an-hour than we have been able to do in months. She might as well get drunk with opium."

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Smoking warning in 18th century note

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