
Originally from Central and South America, tobacco appeared in Europe only after the discovery of the Americas, specifically in Spain in 1519. Initially it was used for ornamental purposes, but it was its use as a medicine that determined its success. Tobacco, in fact, was used as a pain reliever for earaches and toothaches, and occasionally as a poultice for skin wounds. Some indigenous populations of California used tobacco as an ingredient in smoking mixtures to treat colds, mixed with the leaves of the small desert sage or the root of Indian balsam or cough…

