Q 



02 FLAVOUR MODIFIED BY MANIPULATION. 



and infusion seem to indicate little change in the 

 constituents of this tea, and the process it under- 

 goes seems more immediately connected with simple 

 desiccation. 



Thus it appears probable, as well from analysis 

 as from manipulation, from examination of the 

 infused leaves, the infusion itself, and > the flavour, 

 that green tea retains more of its original vegetable 

 properties and character unaltered than black tea. 

 Hence if there be anything narcotic or deleterious 

 in the plant, as is generally surmised, these con- 

 ditions may serve to explain why green tea acts 

 more powerfully and detrimentally on some nervous 

 and irritable constitutions than black tea. It must 

 also be remembered that green tea contains a larger 

 quantity of the essential oil than black tea, which 

 Mulder considers of a highly poisonous character : 

 it also contains more tannin ; and green tea is used 

 somewhat stronger in infusion than black tea, the 

 quantity employed being regulated by measure, not 

 weight. 



Analysis shows that the characteristic flavour or 

 aroma of tea is due to an essential oil ; which in 

 black tea is here supposed to be modified by fer- 

 mentation, or some analogous decomposition of a 

 saccharine principle, with which it unites ; but in 

 green tea the volatile oil and saccharine principle 

 both remain intact. We further perceive how 

 flavour may be variously modified by the fermenta- 

 tion of a saccharine principle in conjunction with 



