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to be indigenous to the slopes of the Himalayas. 

 Very erroneous notions prevailed in England, and 

 amongst botanists, regarding the Thea Bohea, or 

 plant of the south, and the Thea Viridis, or plant 

 of the north of China, the process of manufacturing 

 the article of commerce called tea being so little 

 known, that results brought about by its agency, 

 were attributed solely to distinctions of species in 

 the plant. This is not the place to enter on a dis- 

 cussion regarding the different species and varieties of 

 the tea plant, nor to decide what is a species, and what 

 only a cultivated variety. Nor if it were, not being 

 a botanist, would I attempt to conduct any enquiry 

 on the subject. But from the evidence before me, 

 and present experience, I must say that I can see no- 

 thing to have caused the angry discussions that took 

 place on the discovery of the new tea plant, and the 

 alarm that was created amongst certain botanists, on 

 the publication of the satisfactory reports of the 

 London brokers on the tea manufactured from the 

 indigenous plant of Assam. That Dr. Wallich was 

 slow in admitting that the Assam plant was of the real 

 Thea species is true; and it is much to be regret- 

 ted. For there can be no doubt, that his unwilling- 

 ness to forego his previously conceived ideas, or rather 

 to receive new ones on the subject, postponed 

 the discovery for several years, and considerably 

 retarded subsequent experimental operations. Differ- 

 ences of opinion between savans, will arise, and 



