When someone is “blowing up your butt” today, it’s a figure of speech that means someone is exaggerating or misleading you without any real facts, often to impress you. Back in the late 1700s, however, doctors literally blew smoke up people’s rectums. Believe it or not, it was a mainstream medical procedure used to, among other things, resuscitate people who were otherwise presumed dead. In fact, it was a commonly used resuscitation method for drowning victims. Smoke was blown up the rectum by inserting a tube. This tube was connected to a fumigator and a bellows that forced smoke into the rectum. Sometimes a more direct route to the lungs was taken by forcing the smoke into the nose and mouth, but most physicians felt the rectal method was more effective. The nicotine in the tobacco was thought to stimulate the heart to beat stronger and faster, thus encouraging respiration. The smoke was also thought to warm the victim and dry out the person’s insides, removing excessive moisture. This practice quickly spread, thanks to London physician Thomas Cogan (pictured), reaching its peak in the early 20th century. Then, in 1811, English scientist Ben Brodie discovered that nicotine was toxic to the cardiac system. Over the next several decades, the popularity of literally “blowing smoke up someone’s butt” gradually became a thing of the past. Figuratively, though, this practice is still alive and well.
