Snuff
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Snuff. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a fragrant powdered preparation of tobacco inhaled through the nose. It is made by grinding, in conical mortars or "mills" worked by by power, the chopped leaves and stalks of tobacco in which fermentation has been induced by moisture and warmth in closed rooms. There are numerous varieties. Some, like the rappees, are moist; others, for example, the Irish and Welsh, are highly dried. A roasted Irish snuff called "Lundy Foot," or "Irish Blackguard," has wide repute for excellence. French rappee is superior to all others, and its manufacture has been brought to high perfection at the French Government factory. The TOE CENTER STAYS FILLER CROSS BAR TOE CORD SNOWSHOE to give the wearer a broader base of tobacco is subjected to two processes support when walking on snow. The of fermentation, whereby aroma and strength are acquired, and the nicotine conand organic acids removed. The sumption of snuff in the British Isles has been estimated to amount to 500 tons annually. The practice of snuff taking was introduced from America into France in the 16th century, and in the middle of the following century it was very general throughout Europe. The consumption of snuff greatly increased in England during the reigns of William and Anne, and snuff-boxes of gold, silver, precious stones, and enamels were then not uncom- An average of about 11,000 tons mon. are annually made in the United States, consumed principally by foreigners.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a powder made of tobacco. The expensive qualities are made of fine leaf; the cheap, of stems and rejected portions of the leaf. The moist snuff known as French rappee is made by the French government. The leaf is put through a process of fermentation and the snuff undergoes a second process of a similar nature. Between fermenting, grinding, curing, and dampening nearly two years are spent in making the finest product. A number of perfumes, as musk, lavender, rose, clove, and jasmine are used. Irish, Scotch, and Copenhagen snuff are of the sort known as dry. Snuff-taking was quite the thing in court circles at the close of the seventeenth century. A snuffbox ornamented with costly gems was a gift fit for a prince. Snuff taking has held on in Scotland as persistently as in any country. For a Scot to offer a pinch from his "mull" or snuffbox is an act of fellowship. A recent writer places the consumption of snuff in the United States at 9,500 tons a year. See Tobacco
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both accounts describe snuff as a powder "inhaled through the nose," and Collier's in 1921 could still report some 11,000 tons made yearly in the United States. Nasal snuff has since dwindled to a hobbyist's product, while the word itself shifted meaning: in America "snuff" now nearly always means moist oral tobacco tucked in the lip, the trade descended from the very Copenhagen brand Aiton's listed in 1910 as a dry snuff. The health picture also reversed the old confidence — Collier's believed fermentation removed the nicotine, whereas modern smokeless tobacco is sold as a nicotine product and has carried mandatory US health warnings since the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986, with oral snuff sales banned across the European Union (Sweden excepted) from 1992. The manufacturing detail in these entries — fermentation, milling, scenting with musk, lavender and clove — still describes how traditional snuff is made.
Written for this edition, 2026.