T H i: 



288 



T 11 K 



pretence may easily be detected by passing a magnet into 

 a suspected sample, when some of the particles of iron 

 will adhere to it. 



Chinese annually dry many millions of pounds of 

 tin' leaves ol different plant-, to mingle with the genuine, 



.is those of akh, plum. tec. , a* tin- name Mci-1'ian. 

 applied to one of tin- i tea from the province uf 



Kiang-nan. import*; so that all the spurious leaves 

 found ii parcel- i must not be supposed to l>r m- 



trodu \ the dealers 111 this eountrv. While 



the tea-tni :.U in the hands of the kast-Indm 



Com] .if tliese adulterated ' Chipped for 



this country, a* experienced and competent inspectors 

 with large salaries were kept at Canton, to prevent the 

 exportation of such in the Company's ships; but since the 

 trade has been opened, nil kinds find a ready outlet, and, 

 as the demand oil en exceeds the supply, a manufactured 

 article is furnished to the rival crews. 



Tile object of the drying and rolling is both to diminish 

 the bulk and to enable the leaves to preserve their flavour. 

 No ten is thought tit for use till it is a twelvemonth old ; 

 and the rich and luxurious Chinese keep the tine tea in jars. 

 made of the finest porcelain, some of which are thought to 

 communieate an additional aroma to the tea, and all of 

 which have very narrow rinmt hs as may be oliscrved in those 

 brought to Europe, and sold at a high price , to retain the 

 peculiar odour. If the tea contracts dump, it is taken out 

 and roasted r.g.tin. 



The taste of tea is more or less astringent, and, before it 

 is infused, unpleasantly acrid. To make the infusion, the 

 Chinese pour boiling- water on a small portion of the 



-, but do not allow- it to stand or macerate, as is done 

 in England, but instantly pour it off again, by which they 

 obtain only the more volatile and stimulating portion of its 



1 * '1M . ll ' 1 11 "ill 



The poorer Chinese indeed boil the very in- 

 coarse leaves, which alone are within their 



principles. 



ferior and 



reach, and drink the decoction repeatedly during the day. 



This is doiie not only to extract such virtues as the tea 



possesses, but to qualify the water, as little good drinking 



strongly of tea, and which, were it not lor the expense ot 

 the solvent, and the t uling its separation, might 



perhaps be profitably einpl. 



Green i 



Black Souchong 



prrlb. 



14*. 



12 

 Id 



H 



7 

 I. 1 

 10 



H 



7 

 B 



iu W.UT. Alc.ih.il. .ill. J.-IU . 



31; 

 31 

 BB 

 34 

 37 

 86 



BB 



i:f 

 43 



ll 



30 

 BB 



31 



81 



Ju 

 ji 



2H 



2B 



JK 



M 



B7 

 B7 



04 



or. 



(Brande's M,um,il n/ I'finniitiry. 5th id., p. 121,..) 



The fall in the' prices of tea docs not much affect 

 results, as the same relative proportions aie preserved. 



The alkaloid-like principle of tea can -carcely be con- 

 sidered the cause of the peculiar action of. tea;' bm 

 very interesting from the circumstance of the identity of 



upositiftn with that of coffee, aud of the gc, 

 otticin..'.i>. as shown by l.iebig: 



PfafTan.l I.i.-l.ii;. 



Carbon . -l<)-77 



Hydrogen . .V:i3 



Nitrogen . 2s -7s 



Oxygen . 10- 12 



Tin-ill.'. I . 



_JoI*l. M.,,1 r. C8, II : ' 



."214 r>- i3i :. ' 



2i)-(KHI 2!)- ISO 2s- 



ir)'(i7G 1U-(H)2 10 - 



water is met with in China. Travellers find a supply of 

 tea a very valuable accompaniment on long journeys, as it 

 improves the most brackish waters. The exciting effects of 

 fresh tea are such that it is rarely used till it has been kept 

 twelve months, as already stated : and where indulged in. it 

 produces great disturbance of the mind, almost rc.-cmbling 

 inebriation, like the action oftheErythroxylon Coca among 

 the Peruvians, and inducing a tremulous motion of the 

 limbs. This property is diminished by repeateil roast ings. 

 but as green tea is less exposed to heat than black, it re- 

 tains more of this power. Hcsidcs. the green tea lor ex- 

 portation undergoes some process, which changes its 

 colour, giving it a bluish-green hue. The Chinese them- 

 isiime those kinds of green tea which arc 

 prepared for exportation. (Davis, Chinese, ii.46H.) It is 

 altogether a mistake to suppose that the colour of green 

 owing to its being dried on copper pans, as none 

 such are used, and th . .'ching chemical anal\M-. is 



unable to detect a trace of copper unless as a constituent of ( 

 the vegetable. The chemical analysis of tea does not shed 



ii-.. 



liergma obtained an oil, but this, as well as the distilled 

 he lound to have little peculiar effect on several 

 animals: which is in opposition to the experiments of 

 l.clt-om. who represents the distilled water of tea ns : 

 ail narcotic, paralysing the limbs of frogs, and 

 causing their death when applied to the exposed iu i 



Before attempting to estimate the r.ction of tea on the 

 human system, ii is necessuy to call to mind that some of 

 the effects are due to the plants mixed with the real tea. 

 several of which, such as the Chloraiithus incoiispicuus, 

 are stimulants of the highest order; and in other in.-.;, 

 deleterious chemical compounds are Used by the ('! 

 to convert damaged black teas into saleable green 

 (l)a\is. C/H'IH-M: ii. 4GO.) For the effects of these. I 

 not justly chargeable. Acorrect estimate of the action of 

 tea is not easily foimed: yet the most dispassionate in- 

 quirers regard it as a narcotic, the stimulating \- 

 of which is the mo.-.! conspicuous ;im i ,,f ] im gc.st duration. 

 Tea has been preposterously praised by sonic writers, and 

 unjustly accused by others' a.s being 'productive of nu- 

 merous diseases : abo\e all it has been charged with caus- 

 ing an increase of nervous diseases. It would pcrhii; 

 more just to attribute the increase of such complai; 

 the more complicated .state of our social reratious. :i 

 from an augmented population, and an advance in lu 

 with the more frequent infringement of the natural 

 particularly turning night into day. and not seldom day 

 into night, as is the practice of the votaries of fashion. 



much light on its action on the human system, l-'iankand | That the universal employment of tea has displace 



Sir II. l).i\y found more tannin in black than in green tea ; 

 butt' I Mr. lirande's researches, conducted on a 



more- ft different mutt. 'Some 



ago I examined the varieties of tea in common use ((Jii-ir- 

 terly Joiinnil. xii. 3)1 . and found that the quantity of 

 astringent matter precipitable by gelatine is son. 

 greater in green than in black tea.'though the excess is by 

 no means so great a.s the comparative flavour- of the two 

 would lead one to expect. The entire quantity of soluble 

 matter is also greater in green than in black tea, but the 

 extractive, not precipitable by gelatine, is greater in tin- 

 latter.' 



other kinds of food is certain, but if a diminution in the 

 number of inflammatory diseases be one of the con- 

 sequences, it is much to it.s credit, as however distu 

 nervous diseases may be. they aie by no means 

 those of an inflammatory kind. That tea should not suit 

 all constitutions or all ages is not remarkable. It i 

 suited for young children than for adults ; indeed for very 

 young children ii is extremely improper, producing, like 

 all narcotics, a moibid state of the brain and in- 

 tern. It is also uusuitcd for those of an irritable nature, 

 and likewise for those of a leiicoiihlcgmatic constitution. 

 Such persons can ill bear much liquid of any kind, par- 



The following table shows the respective quantities of ticularly in the evening, and prosper best on a very dry 



soluble matter in water and in alcohol, the weight of the 

 i.itate by isinglass, and the proportion of inert woody 

 fibre in green and black tea of various pi ices. It is given. 

 not a* throwing any important light upon of the 



different qualities and effects often, but its containing the 

 result* of actual experiments. It will be remarked that 

 "hen tea-leaves have been exhausted by water repeatedly 

 afltued, alcohol is still capable of extracting a considerable 

 quantity of soluble matter: the alcoholic extract infus. -d 

 in boiling water, furnishes a liquid which smells aud tastes 



diet, to which growing children of this const it ul ion should 

 letly confined. [DlU'KNTs.] It may not be true 

 that the use of tea, as alleged by Dr. I.ettsom, has been 

 a main cause of the increa-c of -ciophulous diseases, still a.s 

 diseases of this class are the only dlMMe* which are proved 

 by the reports of the registrar-general to I y. or 



perhaps more frequent than others, whatever impairs the 

 nervous power and ultimately the digestive function in 

 slrumous children should be avoided. Ills i.dviec is sound 

 where he says, 'It ought by no means to be the common 



