PARAGUAY TEA. 173 
in a pot, called mate, from the spout of which the tea is drunk, with or without a 
little burnt sugar, cinnamon, or lemon juice. They drink it at every meal, and 
seldom eat before they have taken some of it. The more wealthy and refined 
portion of the population partake of the infusion from a mate or teapot, formed of 
silver or other materials, by means of a tin or silver pipe, called bombilla, per- 
forated with holes at one end, to prevent swallowing the pulverized herb which 
floats on the surface. The quantity of leaves used by a person who is fond of it, 
is an ounce. It is customary, in good society, to supply each of the party with 
a mate and pipe, with the infusion as near as possible to a boiling temperature, 
which, those who are habituated to its use, can swallow without inconvenience ; 
but often "the whole household and their visitors are supplied by handing the 
mate from one to another, filling it up with hot water as fast as it becomes 
exhausted. If the water is suffered to remain long on the leaves, the decoction 
becomes of an inky blackness. The taste of the leaves, when green, somewhat 
resembles that of the mallows, or the inferior kinds of green tea from China. 
Mr. Stenhouse, of Glasgow, has recently detected an alkali in them, not dissim- 
ilar to theine, a bitter tonic substance, which is found in the leaves of the tea of 
China, and the Paulliania sorbilis of the banks of the Amazon, and which is also 
identical with caffeine, obtained from the seeds of coffee, and theobromine, the 
principle yielded by chocolate. On this subject Liebig remarks, " We shall 
never, certainly, be able to discover how mankind were led to the use of the hot 
infusion of the leaves of a certain shrub, (tea,) and of a decoction of certain 
roasted seeds (coffee.) Some cause there must be which would explain how 
the practice has become a necessary of life to whole nations. But it is still 
more remarkable that the beneficial effects of both plants, on the health, must 
be ascribed to one and the same substance, the presence of which, in two vege- 
tables, belonging to different natural families, and the products of different quar- 
ters of the globe, could hardly have presented itself to the boldest imagination."* 
The Ilex paraguariensis is highly ornamental, and doubtless would flourish in 
any soil and situation where the Magnolia grandhiora would thrive. Hence, its 
introduction into the middle and southern sections of the union is well worthy 
of the attention of all who have proper conveniences for cultivating it. 
* While on this subject it may be interesting to notice incidentally, the plants employed as tea in vari- 
ous countries of the globe. In China, Then bohea and viridis mixed with the leaves of Camelia sasanqua 
and oleifera, and sometimes with those of Olea fragrans ; also Rhamnus theezans ; New Holland and 
Kurile Isles, Corrcea alba ; Kamtschatka, Pedicularis lanata ; Argentine Republic, Paraguay, &c, Ilex 
paraguariensis ; Brazil, Thea bohea, Bex paraguariensis, and Paulliania sorbilis, from which the people on the 
banks of the Amazon make a beverage called guarana ; New Granada, Alstonia the&formis, which is said 
to be equal to the tea of China ; Chili and Mexico, Psoralia glandulosa or " culen ;" Carolina, Georgia, 
and Florida, Ilex vomitoria, or cassena ; Virginia, Pennsylvania, &c, Gaultheria procumbens, or mountain 
tea, which, when properly cured, is much esteemed ; also, Ceanothus americanus, or New Jersey tea, 
(having actually been used in the revolut : onary war as a substitute for tea,) and Sididago odora or 
golden-rod, the flowers of which, gathered when fully expanded, and carefully dried, afford a most 
agreeable substitute for tea, and in former times were exported to China, where they brought a high 
price ; and in Canada, Labrador, &c, Ledum latifolium, Indian or Labrador tea. 
