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Smokiana: Historical; Ethnographical cover

Smokiana: Historical; Ethnographical

Chapter 20: South Africa.
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About This Book

A richly illustrated survey documents the history, botany, and ethnography of tobacco and related smoking plants alongside a catalog of pipes and smoking apparatus from around the world. It describes botanical varieties of Nicotiana, regional smoking customs, and the materials and forms of pipes — clay, briar, soapstone, gourd, hookah and opium apparatus — and reproduces historic woodcuts and maker stamps. Organized as descriptive entries with images and captions, the work compares local manufacturing traditions, ceremonial uses, and changing fashions in smoking paraphernalia across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific.

South Africa.

The “Steatite” Bowls now show decidedly European influence, altho the most striking feature is the under disc which is probably added to give strength as the Steatite itself is very friable, its form reminds one of the inverted comb on the skull of a Gorilla which is very African. These specimens like many others are from that Great Store House of information The British Museum which happily secured many of the interesting examples collected by the late Mr. Bragg F.S.A. We can but regret that so complete a collection should ever have been dispersed—Sic transit.