CentralNotice From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search A 1776 textbook drawing of a tobacco smoke enema device, consisting of a nozzle, a fumigator and a bellows The tobacco smoke enema , an insufflation of tobacco smoke into the rectum by enema , was a medical treatment employed by European physicians for a range of ailments. Tobacco was recognised as a medicine soon after it was first imported from the New World , and tobacco smoke was used by western medical practitioners as a tool against cold and drowsiness, but applying it by enema was a technique appropriated from the North American Indians . The procedure was used to treat gut pain, and attempts were often made to resuscitate victims of near drowning . Liquid tobacco enemas were often given to ease the symptoms of a hernia . During the early 19th century the practice fell into d...