THE COLORING OF GREEN TEA. 243 



thing of the importation of this pigment to his native country, came 

 to England in an East Indiaman, visited, or more probably obtained 

 employment at a Prussian blue manufactory, learned the process, 

 and, on his return to China, started there a manufactory of his own, 

 which was so successful that in a short time the whole of the Chinese 

 demand was supplied by native manufacture ; and thus ended our 

 export trade. Those who think the Chinese are an unteachable and 

 unimprovable people may reflect on this little history. 



" The yellowish powder is precisely what your Shanghai corre- 

 spondent supposes. It is steatite, or ' soapstone. ' This name is very 

 deceptive, and, coupled with the greasy or unctuous feel of the sub- 

 stance, naturally leads to the supposition that it is really, as it 

 appears, an oleaginous substance. This, however, is not the case. 

 It is a compound of silicia, magnesia, and water, with which are 

 sometimes associated a little clay and oxide of iron. Like most 

 magnesian minerals, it has a curiously smooth or slippery surface, 

 and hence its name. It nearly resembles meerschaum, the smooth- 

 ness of which all smokers understand. 



" When soapstone is powdered and rubbed over a moderately rough 

 surface, it adheres, and forms a shining film ; just as another unctu- 

 ous mineral, graphite (the ' black lead ' of the housemaid), covers 

 and polishes ironwork. On this account, soapstone is used in some 

 lubricating compounds, for giving the finishing polish to enamelled 

 card, and for other similar purposes. 



" With a statement of these properties before us, and the interest- 

 ing description of the process by your Shanghai correspondent, the 

 whole riddle of green-tea coloring and facing is solved. The Prus- 

 sian blue and soapstone being mixed" together when dry in the man- 

 ner described, the soapstone adheres to the surface of the particles of 

 blue, and imparts to them not only a pale greenish color, but also its 

 own unctuous, adhesive, and polishing properties. The mixture 

 being well stirred in with the tea-leaves, covers them with this 

 facing, and thus gives both the color and peculiar pearly lustre char- 

 acteristic of some kinds of green tea. I should add that the soap- 

 stone, like the other ingredient, is insoluble, and therefore perfectly 

 harmless. 



" Considering the object to be attained, it is evident from the above 

 that John Chinaman understands his business, and needs no lessons 

 from European chemists. It would puzzle ail the Fellows of the 

 Chemical Society, though they combined their efforts for the pur- 

 pose, to devise a more effective, cheap, simple, and harmless method 

 of satisfying the foolish demand for unnaturally colored tea-leaves. 



" When the tea-drinking public are sufficiently intelligent to prefer 

 naturally colored leaves to the ornamental stuff they now select, Mr. 

 Chinaman will assuredly be glad enough to discontinue the addition 

 of the Prussian blue, which costs him so much more per Ib. than his 

 tea-leaves, and will save him the trouble of the painting and varnish- 

 ing now in demand. 



In the mean time it is satisfactory to know that, although a few 

 silly people may be deceived, nobody is poisoned by this practice of 

 coloring green tea. I say ' a few silly people, ' for there can be only 

 a few, and those very silly indeed, who judge of their tea by its 

 appearance rather than by the quality of the infusion it produces. 



" With these facts before us it is not difficult to trace the origin of 



