Mr. Warington on the Green Teas of Commerce. 511 



the unglazed varieties, but brighter in colour ; the facing was 

 apparently sulphate of lime. No. 15. Assam Hyson, of the last 

 importation ; it was of the unglazed variety, with the super- 

 ficial white powder having a slight brown tint, and consisting 

 of a minute quantity of sulphate of lime with a little alumina. 



It appears, therefore, from these examinations that all the 

 green teas that are imported into this country are faced or 

 covered superficially with a powder consisting of either Prus- 

 sian blue and sulphate of lime or gypsum, as in the majority 

 of samples examined, with occasionally a yellow or orange-co- 

 loured vegetable substance; or of sulphate of lime previously 

 stained with Prussian blue, as in Nos. 8 and 9, and one of 

 those first investigated ; or of Prussian blue, the orange-co- 

 loured substance with sulphate of lime and a material sup- 

 posed to be kaolin, as in the original sample; or of sulphate 

 of lime alone, as in the unglazed varieties. It is a curious 

 question what the object for the employment of this facing can 

 be ; whether, as when sulphate of lime alone is used, it is simply 

 added as an absorbent of thelastportions of moisture which can- 

 not be entirely dissipated in the process of drying, or whether 

 it is only, as 1 believe, to give that peculiar bloom and colour 

 so characteristic of the varieties of green tea, and which is so 

 generally looked for by the, consumer, that the want of the 

 green colour, as in the unglazed variety, I am informed affects 

 the selling price most materially. This surely can only arise 

 from the want of the above facts being generally known, as it 

 would be ridiculous to imagine that a painted and adulterated 

 article, for such it must really be considered, should maintain 

 a preference over a more genuine one. In looking over the 

 various authors who have written on the subject of tea, I have 

 observed the following curious statements bearing on the 

 above subject, and fully confirming many of my results, and 

 with which I shall close the present communication. 



In Dr. Horsfield's valuable translation* on the subject of 

 the manufacture of tea in Java, we find, at page 36, the fol- 

 lowing dialogue : — 



" Visitor. Is it indeed the case that tea is so much adulte- 

 rated in China ? 



f* Superintendent. Unquestionably ! but not in the interior 

 provinces, for there exist rigid laws against the adulteration 

 of tea ; and all teas, as they come out of the plantations, are 

 examined on the part of government, to determine whether 

 they are genuine ; but in Canton, which is the emporium of 

 teas, and especially at Honan, many sorts, indeed most teas, 



* Essay on the Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea in Java, translated 

 from the Dutch by Thomas Horsfield, M.D., F.R.S. 



