39 



cussioris above alluded to, rio allowance was made, 

 by either side, for differences in characteristics liable 

 to occur in a plant reproduced from seed, distri- 

 buted over an area of 28 degrees of latitude and 

 30 degrees of longitude. 



An evidently intelligent Chinese author (apud 

 Ball) in speaking of the district of Kien Ning Fu, 

 says ( there are some plantations on plains rather 

 lo\v, the soil of which is compact, a little muddy, 

 rather black, neither very cold nor very hot, and 

 rather damp. The tea of this place is worth 'about 

 two-thirds more than the tea of other parts of 

 Eo-kien; but the best of all, is procured from 

 plants which are upon high mountains in steep 

 places, sometimes like precipices ; and on this ac- 

 count iron chains are used to ascend them, and to 

 gather the leaves. These are the famous mountains 

 of Vu-ye, in the district of Kien Ning Fu. 3 



Now it is not my object in this place, to prove the 

 converse of what I endeavoured to prove in a previous 

 chapter, nor yet to bestow praise where censure is due; 

 but simply to show how impossible it is to form 

 certain conclusions, from imperfect, or uncertain pre- 

 mises ; and, under such circumstances, how possi- 

 ble it is for opposite parties to be partially both 

 right, and both wrong at the same time. We could 

 not certainly place much reliance on the opinion of a 

 Chinese author on a purely scientific subject ', but 

 lere we have nothing of the kind to deal with. He 



