Miscellaneous. 355 



organs analogous to the bulbs which are found at the base of the 

 hairs. 



I shall here only observe further, that my investigations seem to 

 be in complete opposition to the theories which make the shell of the 

 Crustacea analogous* to the scaly epidermis of serpents and lizards. I 

 see no analogy between the shedding of the shell of the Crustacea, — 

 which divests them of organs destined to give the body its form and 

 volume, to serve as points of attachment to the locomotor muscles, to 

 furnish the instruments of prehension and mastication ; organs placed 

 not only on the surface of the body, but often immersed in the 

 midst of the soft parts, and in which we find an organization such as 

 I have described, — and the periodical shedding observed in reptiles of 

 a thin epidermis, without consistency, completely inorganized and 

 incapable of fulfilling any of the uses to which the shell is destined. 



My researches have convinced me of the vitality of the shell, at 

 least in the first period of its existence ; and in reference to this, I 

 am fully of Cuvier's opinion, when he said, in his * Anatomic Com- 

 paree,' *' The envelope of the Crustacea is at first soft, sensible, and 

 even furnished with vessels ; but a quantity of calcareous molecules 

 soon collect there, harden it, and obstruct the pores and vessels." 



Such was also the decided opinion of Dug^sf. — Comptes Rendus, 

 Jan. 4, 1847. 



THE TEA PLANT OF CHINA. 



There are few subjects connected with the vegetable kingdom 

 which have attracted such a large share of public notice as the tea- 

 plant of China. Its cultivation on the Chinese hills, the particular 

 species or variety which produces the black and green teas of com- 

 merce, and the method of preparing the leaves, have always been ob- 

 jects of peculiar interest. The jealousy of the Chinese government 

 in former times prevented foreigners from visiting any of the di- 

 stricts where tea is cultivated ; and the information derived from the 

 Chinese merchants, even scanty as it was, was not to be depended upon. 

 And hence we find our English authors contradicting each other ; 

 some asserting that the black and green teas are produced by the 

 same variety, and that the difference in colour is the result of a dif- 

 ferent mode of preparation ; while others say that the black teas are 

 produced from the plant called by botanists Thea Bohea, and the 

 green from Thea viridis, both of which we have had for many years 

 in our gardens in England. During my travels in China since the 

 last war, I have had frequent opportunities of inspecting some extensive 

 tea districts in the black and green-tea countries of Canton, Fokien, 

 and Chekiang, and the result of these observations is now laid be- 



* The reader will see the need of the term homologous, signifying 

 * answerable part or namesake,' proposed by Professor Owen ; as the shell 

 of the Crustacea is ' analogous' to the scaly epidermis of serpents and lizards, 

 inasmuch as it has a similar relation to the protection of the surface of the 

 body. 



t See Dr. Schmidt's important researches on this subject in Taylor's 

 ' Scientific Memoirs,' Part XVII. 



25* 



