56 



being dried on copper, to give a more beautiful green 

 to the leaves, is entirely void of foundation. 



Of this plant it is generally believed that there is 

 only one species j the difference of green and Bohea 

 tea depending upon the nature of the soil, the culture, 

 and the manner of drying the leaves. It has been ob- 

 served that the green-tea tree, planted in the Bohea 

 country, will produce Bohea-tea, and so on the con- 

 trary. The tree is an evergreen, and grows to about 

 six feet in height, according to the best information 

 we have upon the subject. 



Tea was first introduced into Europe by the Dutch 

 East India Company in 1641, and a small quantity 

 was brought to England from Holland about the year 

 1666, by Lord Arlington and Lord Ossery, from 

 whom it soon became known to the people of fashion, 

 and its use ever since has become general. In China 

 the use of tea is derived from very remote antiquity, 

 and is so universal among all ranks of people in that 

 vast empire, that, we are assured by Sir Geo. Staunton, 

 if the Europeans were entirely to cease from trading 

 in it, it would very little affect the price of tea in 

 China, though, according to Dr. Lettsom's Tables, it 

 appears that the quantity of tea imported into Europe 

 from 1776 to 1/94, amounted annually to 15, 20, 25, 

 29, and even to 36 millions of pounds. 



John Ellis, Esq. well known for his excellent 

 works on corals and corallines, previous to the year 

 1768, set several tea seeds, sent to him from China, 

 in pots in the open air in London, from which hs 



