coloured with green, yellow, or blue. More minute and careful exami- 

 nation enabled me clearly to distinguish the coloured particles which 

 consisted of blue and yellow grains, in varying proportions according to 

 the tint required. Unfaced green teas, on the other hand, present none 

 of these characters, but the leaves are covered with a soft coat, of a 

 yellowish or olive brown colour, which consists of many minute hairs, 

 without any of the white or coloured crystalline powder observed on the 

 glazed or blooming varieties. 



With a view to satisfying my own mind as to the nature of this facing 

 or glazing, I examined a number of samples of glazed green tea. The 

 glaze is most readily removed by agitating the tea rapidly in a small 

 quantity of cold water, and straining the hquor, from which the glazing 

 precipitates readily. The tea removed, may be re-dried without losing 

 its former curl, and then has no longer the beautiful green colour it 

 formerly had, but has all the appearance of black tea. 



The washings of the tea are opaque, and more or less of a deep 

 green colour, from which the glazing separates as an abundant precipi- 

 tate, and, when examined under the microscope with a power of about 

 two hundred and eighty, is seen to consist of a white crystalline powder, 

 with a number of blue and yellow granules interspersed. Of one 

 sample I examined of ** Young Hyson," but slightly glazed, and of a dull 

 yellowish colour, I found the glazing to consist of an immense number 

 of minute six-sided prisms, many of which, when grouped together, had 

 a pale lemon colour, from the particles of yellow colouring matter con- 

 tained in their interstices. Besides these there were also a number of 

 yellow and deep orange coloured grains with a few blue (inclining to 

 violet) granules. 



From another sample of " Fine Catty Gunpowder" I obtained a very 

 voluminous precipitate, by washing with cold water, having similar 

 characters to the former, but the grains were much finer : the blue were 

 very deep coloured and predominated over the yellow. It seemed 

 evident from these two samples that the colouring had been applied 

 separately ; first the blue, then the yellow, and lastly, to give the gloss 

 or bloom, the white powder. 



A sample of very highly glazed young hyson appeared to have been 

 faced with a powder previously well incorporated. It yielded an 

 abundant precipitate, chiefly consisting of an extremely fine crystaline 

 powder, amongst which a few very minute blue and yellow granules could 

 be discerned. A sample of very " blooming " gunpowder yielded a copi- 

 ous apple-green precipitate, consisting of a number of well-defined 

 crystals, some tabular, and some six-sided prisms, chiefly colourless ; but, 

 17 



