ABSTRACT
As befits the subject, the origin of the smoking habit appears shrouded in the myths of history. Archaeological work in Mexico has suggested that the tobacco plant played a great part in religious ceremonies among the Mayans before the beginning of our era. Over five hundred years ago the habit spread over the whole of Mexico and to the Red Indians and the South American Indians as well. The discovery of America by Columbus in 1492 marks the beginning of the gradual subjugation of Europe to the tobacco plant. The form this conquest has taken has often been determined by rather curious circumstances. Cigarette smoking, which is probably far more popular than all other forms of tobacco consumption combined, is of relatively recent origin in Europe and America, although as long ago as the middle of the eighteenth century many papelitos were smoked in Mexico City, not only by men but also by women.
