When Christopher Columbus discovered America he found the natives chewing tobacco in much the same manner as is done today (1). The American Indians believed tobacco to have medicinal properties, and it was also used in native ceremonials in the New World. Once in Europe, the genus Nicotiana was named in honor of Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Lisbon, who sent the seeds of Nicotiana tabacum to Catherine de Medicis, the queen of France. The word tobacco was derived from an American Indian word referring both to a tube for inhaling the smoke and to a cylinder of leaf prepared for smoking.