214 BOTANY. 



Gunpowder teas differ from the above kinds only 

 in the minuteness of their leaves, and being dried 

 with additional care. 



In its natural state, tea is a narcotic plant, on 

 which account the Chinese refrain, until it has been 

 divested of this property by twelve months keeping. 



Dr. Clarke Abel says, the strongest tea he tasted 

 during his travels in China was named " Yu-tien," 

 yet, it scarcely coloured the water. It is reserved 

 for occasions of ceremony, and consists of the hardly 

 expanded buds of the plant. 



Sir G. Staunton and Mr. Ellis assert, that green 

 and bohea tea are plants of one and the same botani- 

 cal species, the variation in the quality depending on 

 the soil, the age at which the leaves are plucked, and 

 the subsequent management and mixture of them. 



Starch. 



Starch forms a principal ingredient in the composi- 

 tion of a number of esculent vegetable substances 

 besides wheat, potatoes, &c. &c. Sowans, cassava, 

 salop, sago, all owe their nutritive powers chiefly to 

 the starch they contain. 



The ultimate elements of starch and sugar differ 

 very little. Starch is converted into sugar during 

 the germination of the seeds, and in the process of 

 malting. Malt is barley which has been made to 

 germinate to a certain extent, after which the process 

 is stopped by heat. 



Barley malted contains Barley not malted 



Gum . . 14 parts Gum . . 5 



Sugar . 16 Sugar . . 4 



Gluten . 1 Gluten . 3 



Starch . 69 Starch . 88 



100 parts. 100 parts 



