298 BROKEN LEAVES IN TEA. 



twist longitudinally, and preserve somewhat the 

 original length and form of the leaf. But green 

 tea leaves, from an uninterrupted rotatory motion 

 which they receive in the act of manipulation in 

 the iron vessel in which they are dried, are con- 

 stantly exposed to friction against the heated sides 

 and bottom of the vessel, and against each other ; 

 thus they contract and curl. Some even double 

 their ends inwards, others form into knots at one 

 end, and others agglutinate and become round and 

 knobby, and form " Hyson-skin." The small young 

 leaves and the broken pieces of delicate ones adhere 

 together in the same manner as the Hyson-skin, and 

 assume a compact, hard, and altogether globular 

 form, constituting "Gunpowder" tea. Thus the 

 leaves of green tea are more compact and hard, as 

 well as shorter than black tea, and, measure for 

 measure or bulk for bulk, are heavier. Thus we 

 see why the comparatively long thin form of the 

 black tea leaf should render it more frangible than 

 the contracted compact form of the green tea leaf. 

 It must also have been very commonly remarked 

 that green tea on infusion gives out its strength 

 and flavour more slowly than black. It takes a 

 longer time for the leaves to unfold, in consequence 

 of their compactness and hardness. It cannot have 

 escaped observation that when black and green teas 

 are mixed prior to infusion, the flavour of green 

 tea predominates in proportion to the length of 

 time the tea is allowed to draw. If poured off 



