18 TEA 



An instructive and interesting research on the various 

 changes which take place in the tea plant through age 

 has been made by O. Kellner. To carry out the experi- 

 ment, tea leaves from the same plants were collected 

 twice a month from May to November ; a sample from 

 the identical plants was also taken at the end of twelve 

 months, with the following results : 



It was found that there was present in the young 

 leaves more theine, water and amido-acid, whereas 

 in the old leaves there was an increased proportion of 

 ash and tannin, combined with a decrease in theine, 

 water, etc. 



Adulteration is now happily a thing of the past. 

 Formerly tea was extensively adulterated in England, 

 but in consequence of the gradual reduction in the duty 

 this reprehensible practice has ceased. The debasing 

 foreign mixings resorted to were in many instances 

 imitations of those so ingeniously designed by the 

 clever Chinese themselves, and may be described under 

 four heads : 



1. Foreign leaves. 



2. " Lie " tea. 



3. Mineral substances. 



4. Materials used for colouring, painting, or " facing " 

 tea. - 



" Lie " tea referred to was the descriptive and inge- 

 nious designation given by the Chinese to redried, faced, 

 or any adulterated teas. The following extract from 

 Fortune's Tea Countries, is interesting, inasmuch as it 

 gives an account of colouring and facing tea : 



" The superintendent of the workmen managed the 

 colouring process himself. Having procured a por- 

 tion of Prussian blue, he threw it into a porcelain 

 bowl, not unlike a chemist's mortar, and crushed it 



