The
tobacco smoke enema, was 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 recognized 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 adapted from the North American Indians. The procedure was used to treat gut pain, and attempts were often made to resuscitate victims of near drowning.
During the early 19th century the practice fell into decline when it was discovered that the principal active agent in tobacco smoke, nicotine, is poisonous. 
