, by —. = 
2 On the Cultivation of, and Substitutes for, Tea. 
* T readily confirm Phytophilus’ infor- 
mation of John Ellis, Esq.* having pos- 
sessed the first tea-plant in Europe ; and 
the history of this acquisition is curous. 
Prior to the year 1768, [ was intimately 
acquainted with him, aud atteuded many 
_ of his ingenious experiments on. Animal- 
‘cule. 
several tea-seeds, seut to him in a canis- 
ter, in pots, which he placed in the open- 
ing or garden of his lodging in (I think) 
Gray’s-mu, One plant only was raised, 
which he presented to Kew Garden, 30 
that the first tea-plant that vegetated in 
Europe, was raised in the center of 
London ! y 
About this time, if I mistake not, the 
late Duke of Northumberland received 
a plant from China, which was the first 
that flowered here, at his seat at Sion- 
house. From this plant Miller} engraved 
his Icon, which embellished his grand il- 
Justration of the Sexual System of Linné, 
since imitated by Dr, Thornton: but the 
largest tea-plant which flowered soon af- 
ter this period was at Upton, the seat of 
Dr. Fothergill. I measured it a yard and 
half high; it was planted in the open air, 
and matted in the winter: it did not long 
survive its original proprietor. 
On the subject of tea-plants in Eng- 
land, I would add nothing further, than 
to thank Phytophilus for his information 
respecting the plants cultivated in the 
environs of London; except that of re- 
ferring him to a useful paper by Sir Jo- 
seph Banks, in the Memoirs of the Horti- 
cultural Society, on themeans of iiuating 
exotics to the climate of England, a sub- 
ject, which I noticed nearly torty years 
ago. 
Upon the article of tea, the authors 
amount te about 150, the simile enume- 
ration of which would occupy too many 
useful pages of your Magazine; but I 
would, however, observe that K:empter’s 
‘Ameenitates, Staunton’s China, and “ an 
Account of the Tea-tree” by Frederick 
# This great naturalist, with Dr. Fother- 
gill and Peter Collinson, to whom might be 
added Sir William Watson and Franklin, 
formed the great school of Naturalists after 
the decease of Sir Hans Sloane. Are there 
any memoirs of John Ellis? J fear that this 
ingenious ‘naturalist has not yet found a bio- 
grapher. His works on Corals and Corailines 
place bim high in the ranks of science, 
+ Miller, or- Miiller, drew the Hortus 
Upton. of Fothergill. I think this col- 
lection was sold to the Ethpress of Russia for 
1,501. ; es 
“sess cousiderable 
He informed me that he sowed 
i ai, ey, Se ee 
u “f 
[Aug. 1, 
Pigou, Esq. Asiatic Register for 1802, 
page 1, of Miscellancous ‘Tracts, pos- 
information on this: 
oriental vegeiable. The last is par- 
ticularly minute respecting the varieties 
of commercial teas, places of growth in 
China,* and methods of preparation; dif- 
ferent in many respects from every other 
author, Ls 
Many writers on tea, particularly the 
early ones, either pretended to have dis- 
covered it, or proposed substitutes for it. 
Simon Pauli, an eminent physician at 
Copenhagen, was the first who assumed 
the discovery of tea in Europe, in the 
Myrica Gale,t who was afterwards re- 
futed by Dr. Mentzel of Berlin, in con- 
sequence of specimeis received from the 
East Indies by Dr. Cleyer.{ Father 
Labat§ next thought he had discovered 
the tea-tree in Martinico, in a species of 
Lysimachia, As a substitute for tea, 
Lochner§ particularly recommended ye- 
ronica, besides which sage,{{ myrtle,** 
betony, tf sloe, tf agrimony, &§ wild 
* The tea-plant is indigenous in China and 
Japan; and some authors add also Siam. Per- 
cival in his account of the island of Ceylon ob- 
serves that he was informed by an officer in 
the 80th regiment, of his having found the 
genuire tea-plant in this island ; but I doubt 
the information. Compare Mason’s Costume 
of China. 
+ Linné Syst. Natur. v. 5S. p. 651. Wilhel. 
Seyl. Epist apud Simon. Pauli Comment, Hud- 
son’s fl. Ang. p. 368. 
+ Acta Haffniensia and Ephemer. Dec. 11. 
Ann. iv. 
§ Nouveau Voyage aux Iles de l’Ame- 
rique, Paris 1721. j 
| De novis Thee et Coffez Succedaneis, 
4to Hall. 1717. Veronica oflicinalis, Flor, 
Suec. p. 12. Veronic. Chamed. Fl. Suec. p, 
18. Pechlin Theophilus Bibaculus, Francfort, 
1684. Francus de Veronica; Cobourg, 1690, 
12mo. 1700, Paris, sub titulo, le The de 
lEurope, 1704, and 1707, 12mo. Fred. 
Hofim. de infusi Veronice efficacia preferenda 
herb Thee, 4to Hall. 1694. 
§| Fr. Afforry & Jos. de Tournefort, Ergo 
potus ex salvia salubris, 1659. Wedel, de 
Salvia, 4to. 1707. Jena, Paulini Nobilis Salvia, 
Aug. Vindel. 1658, 8vo. 
** Simon Pauli de Abusu Thex; Strasburg, 
1663. Lond. 1746. 
t+ Hence the Italian proverb Vende la 
tonica, &. compra la Betonica. : 
jt Withering. Act of Parliament, 17 Geo, 
ii, ch. 29. om Act. 4. Geo. 2. 
§§ Joseph Seres, Lettera sopra la bevanda, 
&c. Veron. 1730 Thomasius, Thea ex Rosa, 
in Cent: iii. Nat, Curios. p. 199. . Also Cent. 
vii, Obs, 15, auctore Fischer, 
_ros¢ 
+ 
io 
a 
