The notion of reviving victims of drowning accidents with tobacco smoke enemas seems, to say the least, a little odd. But to 18th-century physicians, this approach was entirely rational. The mainstay of treating the “apparently dead” was warmth and stimulation. Rubbing the skin was one method of stimulation, but injecting tobacco smoke into the rectum was generally thought more powerful. Since its introduction from the New World by Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618), tobacco has had a place in the pharmacopoeia for its warming and stimulating properties. It was useful in counteracting cold and lethargy, either in an individual's constitution, or brought on by particular afflictions.