THE 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL 



THE 



the quality in general has become inferior, since the demand 

 has been increased. He says : I remember, half a century 

 ago, that lumps of Catechu, which is an extract from a species 

 of Mimosa, and vulgarly called Terra Japonica, were fre- 

 quently found in the chests of Bohea Teas, and that my 

 father, by way of experiment, dried the green Tea that had 

 been used in the family, and, just before it was dry, scraped 

 over it some of the Terra Japonica. It curled up very well, 

 and passed with the servants for the same kind of Tea that 

 they were accustomed to drink. From this, Dr. Lettsom 

 infers, that we have at least the satisfaction of knowing, that 

 if the above be the drug employed, it is not pernicious. We 

 are not positively informed what motive first induced the 

 natives of China and Japan first to use an infusion of Tea; 

 but it is highly probable that it was in order to correct the 

 water, which is brackish and ill-tasted in many parts of those 

 countries. Sir George Staunton remarks, that persons of 

 rank in China are so careful about the quality of the water 

 intended for their own consumption, that they seldom drink 

 any without its being distilled; and every Chinese infuses 

 Tea, or some other vegetable supposed to be salubrious, in 

 the water which he uses. Like beer in England, Tea is sold 

 in public houses in every town ; also by the side of public 

 roads, and on the banks of rivers and canals, both in China 

 and Japan: nor is it unusual for the burdened traveller to 

 lay down his load, refresh himself with a cup of warm Tea, 

 and then pursue his journey. These qualities of taking off 

 the ill taste of water, and of refreshing after fatigue, have 

 been often noticed in other countries. Thus Kalm says, If 

 Tea be useful, it must be so in travelling through a desert 

 country, where wine or other liquors cannot be conveniently 

 carried, and where the water is generally unfit fo.r use, being 

 full of insects. In such cases, it is very pleasant when boiled, 

 and Tea is infused. It certainly must be allowed, that Tea 

 proves a grateful diluent, and agreeable sedative, to persons 

 of full habits, after hearty meals, when the stomach is oppress- 

 ed, the head pained, and the pulse beats high ; but to per- 

 sons of consumptive habits, and where there is any taint of 

 scrofula in the constitution, it is exceedingly deleterious. 

 Neither the Chinese nor the Japanese ever use this herb 

 until it has been kept at least a year, because when fresh it is 

 said to prove narcotic, and to disorder the senses. It does 

 not appear whether they are kind enough to keep back their 

 Teas from the European market for the same period, out of 

 equal regard for the health of their customers; and from the 

 effects produced by its consumption, in this country, we really 

 fear, that in the latter instance they are less considerate. 

 The Chinese pour hot water on the herb, and draw off the 

 infusion, in the same manner as is now practised by Euro- 

 peans ; but they drink it without sugar or milk. The Japa- 

 nese reduce it to a fine powder, by grinding the leaves in 

 a hand-mill; tea-cups are filled with hot water, into which 

 they put as much of the powder as might lie on the point 

 of a moderate-sized knife, stirring it about while the liquor 

 foams, and sipping it while warm. The common people, 

 who have a coarser Tea, boil it for some time in water, and 

 use the liquor for common drink. Early in the morning, the 

 kettle, filled with water, is hung over the fire, and the Tea 

 is either put in, enclosed in a bag, or by means of a basket 

 pressed to the bottom of the vessel. The coarsest sort only 

 is used in this manner; the qualities of which, being more 

 fixed, would probably not be so fully extracted by infusion. 

 Tea indeed is the common beverage of all the labouring 

 people of China, who are hardly ever represented at work of 

 any kind, but the tea-pot and tea-cup appear as their accom- 

 paniments: reapers, threshers and all who work out. of doors 



as well as within, have these attendants. With respect to the 

 qualities of Tea, it appears that an infusion of the Green kind 

 destroys the sensibility of the nerves and the irritability of 

 the muscles; and that it gives out, in distillation, an odorous 

 water, which is powerfully narcotic. That the recent plant 

 contains such an odorous narcotic power, we might presume 

 from the necessity which the Chinese find of drying it with 

 much heat, before it can be brought into use ; and that even 

 after such preparation they must abstain from using it for a 

 year or more, that is, till its volatile parts are still farther 

 dissipated; and it is said, that unless they use this precaution, 

 the Tea manifestly shews strong narcotic powers. Even in 

 this country the more odorous Teas often display their seda- 

 tive powers, in weakening the nerves of the stomach, and 

 indeed of the whole system. Its effects, however, seem to 

 be very different in different persons ; and hence the contra- 

 dictory accounts that are given. But if we consider the 

 difference of constitution, which occasions some variation 

 in the operating of the same medicine, and of which there is 

 a remarkable proof in the operation of opium ; if to this we 

 add the fallacy arising from the condition of the Tea employed, 

 which is often so inert as to have little or no effect; and it' 

 we still add to this the power of habit, which can destroy the 

 efficacy of the most powerful substances, we shall not allow 

 the various and even contradictory reports of its effects to 

 alter our judgment with respect to its ordinary and more 

 general qualities in affecting the human body ; which quali- 

 ties are, from experiments and observations, clearly ascer- 

 tained to be narcotic and sedative. It is not at the same 

 time to be denied, that Tea may sometimes have good effects : 

 it is very possible that in certain persons, taken in moderate 

 quantities, it may, like other narcotics, prove exhilarating; or, 

 like them, have some effect in taking off irritability, or in 

 quieting some irregularities of the nervous system. As its 

 bad effects have been often imputed to the warm water in 

 which it has been infused, so there is no doubt that some of 

 its good effects may also be ascribed to the same cause, and 

 particularly its being so often grateful after a full meal. 

 After all, the infusion of Tea, as it is commonly taken in 

 England, with a competent quantity of cream, or milk and 

 sugar, cannot be very narcotic and sedative ; especially as, after 

 a long voyage, it is kept some time in the East India Com- 

 pany's warehouses ; and the finer sorts of it are hardly so 

 much in request as formerly. Nor can it be an unwholesome 

 beverage for sedentary persons, and such as live freely, pro- 

 vided it be not taken too hot, nor in immoderate quantities, 

 or without solid food. For the lower class of people, who in 

 general procure little animal food, Tea is a bad succedaneum 

 for beer ; and is besides, with its concomitants, far too ex- 

 pensive. This now universal article of daily diet, was not 

 drunk in Europe before the commencement of the seven- 

 teenth century. Some Dutch adventurers, seeking about 

 that time for such objects as might fetch a price in China, 

 and hearing of the general usage there of a beverage from the 

 plant of this country, bethought themselves of trying how far 

 an European plant, of supposed great virtues, might also be 

 relished by the Chinese, and thereby become a saleable com- 

 modity among them. Accordingly, they introduced to them 

 the herb Sage, once so much extolled by the Salernian School 

 of Physic, as a powerful preservative of health ; the Dutch 

 accepting, in return, the Chinese Tea, which they brought 

 to Europe. The European herb did not continue long, at 

 least in use, in China; but the consumption of Tea has been 

 gradually increasing in Europe ever since, and is the staple 

 article of our vast East Indian Commerce. The first intro- 

 duction of Tea into England was about 1660, when the first 



