TOBACCO.

(Nicotiana Tabacum.)

TOBACCO is a native of America, and was first imported into Europe about the middle of the sixteenth century, by Hermandez de Toledo, who sent it to Spain and Portugal. At that time the ambassador of Francis II. resided at the Court of Lisbon; and in the year 1560 he carried the tobacco into France, when it was presented to Catherine de Medicis, as a plant from the New World, possessing extraordinary virtues; the ambassador's name was Nicot, from whence it has taken the name Nicotiana.

The tobacco is an annual plant, flowering in July and August, and is now common in various parts of the globe; it is frequently used medicinally, although proved to be a deleterious poison. The fume of it is often applied to destroy the insects on plants in greenhouses and conservatories, and also to keep moths from woollen cloths and furs.

Class, PENTANDRIA. Order, MONOGYNIA.

THE TOBACCO PLANT.

How short-lived the struggle for honour or power,
Of the brightest rosebud, or more fragrant flower,
Who claim for their form, or their beauty alone,
Their right to be placed on the garden throne;
A form without blemish may strike the sight,
Or fragrance alone the senses delight;

But I have been prized for my virtues I ween,
And was once quite beloved by an English queen
No disdain, then, I fear, nor from beauty a frown,
Since the worth of Tobacco was owned by a crown.
How can the gay tulip, then, e'er think to claim,
From the labour of poets such honour or fame;
Or the poor lowly violet, the offspring of chance,
While I am esteemed both in Holland and France;
To visit the nobles I've crossed the Great Line;
I'm prized in all climates, such virtues are mine.
Those honours I gain for my perfume alone;
True worth will be valued when beauty has flown.

* Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. was very partial to snuff.