DOMESTIC ECONOMY, HYGIENE, DIETETICS. 



417 



minutes, or which has previously boiled, should 

 on no account be used. If the water does not 

 boil, or if it be allowed to overboil, the leaves 

 of the tea will be only half-opened and the tea 

 itself will be quite spoiled. The water should 

 be allowed to remain on the leaves from ten to 

 fifteen minutes. 



A Chinese being interviewed for the Cook, 

 says: Drink your tea plain. Don't add milk 

 or sugar. Tea brokers and tea tasters never 

 do ; epicures never do ; the Chinese never do. 

 Milk contains fibrin, albumen, or some other 

 stuff, and the tea a delicate amount of tannin. 

 Mixing the two makes the liquid turbid. This 

 turbidity, if I. remember the cyclopaedia aright, 

 is tannate of fibrin, or leather. People who 

 put milk in tea are therefore drinking boots 

 and shoes in mild disguise. 



TEA. 



As sold in the shops, tea is the leaf of the 

 tea-tree, dried and stored for use. These leaves 

 are gathered at three or four different seasons, 

 by which in some measure the different quali- 

 ties of tea are produced, those first picked be- 

 ing the most valuable and the last coarse and 

 large. The young leaves are narrow, convo- 

 luted, and downy ; the middle-aged have their 

 edges serrated and veined with more or less 

 delicacy, while in the old leaves the serration 

 and veining are more marked, and, in addition, 

 some peculiar hoops are developed along the 

 margins, which are readily seen when the 

 leaves are closely examined. All teas are 

 classed as black and green, depending partly 

 on the age of the leaves, partly upon the locality 

 where they are grown, and partly upon the 

 method of drying. Thus the black tea is not 

 only roasted in a shallow iron vessel, called 

 the Kus, but it is also again submitted to the 

 action of a charcoal fire, in sieves. Green tea, 

 on the other hand, escapes the second process. 

 As the names of the different teas relate to 

 the time of their being gathered, or to some 

 peculiarity in their manufacture, consumers 

 should know something about them. 



Black Teas. As soon as the leaf-bud be- 

 gins to expand, it is gathered to make Pekoe. 

 A few days' later growth produces what here is 

 called Black-leaved Pekoe. The next picking 

 is called Souchong. As the leaves grow larger 

 and more mature they form Congou ; and the 

 last and latest picking is called Bohea. 



Bohea is called by the Chinese Ta-che (large 

 tea), on account of the maturity and size of the 

 leaves. It contains a larger proportion of 

 woody fiber than other teas, and its infusion 

 is of a darker color and coarser flavor. 



Congou, the next higher kind, is named from 

 a corruption of the Chinese Koonyfoo (great 



care, or assiduity). This forms the bulk of 

 the black imported, and is most valued for its 

 strength. 



Souchong, Seaon-chong (small, scarce sort), 

 is the finest of the stronger black tea, with a 

 leaf that is generally entire and curly. It is 

 much esteemed for its fragrance and fine flavor. 



Pekoe is a corruption of the Canton name 

 Pak-ho (white down), being the first sprouts 

 of leaf-buds ; they are covered with a white 

 silky down. It is a delicate tea, rather defi- 

 cient in strength, and it is principally used for 

 flavoring other teas. 



G-reen Teas. The following are the prin- 

 cipal kinds: Twankay, Hyson-Skin, Hyson, 

 Gunpowder, and Young Hyson. 



Young Hyson (when genuine) is a delicate 

 young leaf, called in the original language, 

 Yu-tsien (before the rains), because gathered 

 in the early spring. 



Hyson, from the Chinese word, Hich'un, 

 which signifies flourishing spring. This fine 

 sort of tea is gathered in the early part of the 

 season. There is extreme care and labor used 

 in the preparation of this tea ; each leaf is 

 picked separately, and nipped off above the 

 foot stalk, and every separate leaf is twisted 

 and rolled by the hand. It is much esteemed 

 for its agreeable flavor. 



Gunpowder, as it is called, is nothing but 

 Hyson rolled and rounded to give it the gran- 

 ular appearance whence it derives its name. 

 The Chinese call it Choo-cha (pearl-tea). 



Hyson-Skin is so named from the original 

 Chinese term in which connection the skin 

 means the refuse or inferior portion. In pre- 

 paring Hyson, all those leaves that .are of a, 

 coarse yellow, or imperfectly twisted appear- 

 ance, are separated and sold as skin tea, at an 

 inferior price. 



CHOCOLATE. 



A substance made from the seeds of the 

 cocoa tree which grows extensively in the 

 West Indies and South America. The seeds 

 are about the size of an almond, and when 

 broken into small pieces are subjected to 

 great pressure until they are reduced to a 

 rough powder, after -which they are mixed! 

 with sugar and rolled into a very thick paste, 

 or into a very fine powder, called chocolate. 

 Chocolate is less exciting to the nervous sys- 

 tem than tea or coffee, and at the same time 

 it contains a much larger proportion of nutri- 

 tive matter. Its flavor, moreover, is not les- 

 sened by the addition of milk, so that it may 

 be boiled in milk only and thus produce a most 

 agreeable and nutritive food. " There are, 

 therefore," says Dr. Edward Smith, " many 

 persons, states of system, and circumstances, 



