23 SMOKING AN AID TO DOMESTIC BLISS BENEFIT IN MODERATION “Most wives know that a smoker lets off his temper on his pipe, rather than on his family—having no hope of the last word, he resolves to vigorous puffing and blowing of smoke,” said a well-known Brisbane doctor. He considered there was room for further scientific investigation, and no scientific obstacle to the new theory, as cabled from London, that nicotine stimulates the adrenal glands, which help to regulate the amount of sugar circulating in the blood. It was a rational explanation of why a cigarette relieved fatigue and irritability, which were associated with a low level of sugar in the blood. He smoked so much himself that he had taken it for granted that the effect was that of a sedative on the nervous system. There was

