318 BOTANICAL DIFFERENCE. 



The preceding remarks are not intended as any 

 disparagement of Mr. Fortune's work, which con- 

 veys in a lively and pleasant manner much inter- 

 esting information respecting the coast of China 

 and the districts in its vicinity, but introduced 

 merely to prevent erroneous conclusions being 

 drawn from the unavoidably partial and imperfect 

 intelligence he was enabled to pick up in the course 

 of his tour, on a subject of much real intricacy and 

 difficulty. 



With respect to the Assam plant some botanists 

 and practical gardeners find it difficult to believe, 

 and with much show of reason, that a tree of from 

 thirty to forty feet in height, and eight inches in 

 diameter *, can be of the same species as the di- 

 minutive tea plant of China and Japan. Yet it is 

 affirmed to be identical by competent botanists, and 

 otherwise scientific men, sent expressly to determine 

 that doubt. 



But whether the Assam tea tree be a distinct 

 species or not, it is evident that the form, height, 

 and circumstances under which it was found, are 

 those of a forced and unnatural growth. " When 

 the surrounding jungle was cut down," says Mr. 

 Bruce, "the long slender stems of the tea tree 

 seemed hardly capable of supporting their own 

 weight." 



It is said on good authority f that the Chinese 



* Journal of the Botanical and Horticultural Society of India, 

 p. 30. 



f Private correspondence with Father Carpina. 



