BOTANICAL DIFFERENCE. 319 



tree attains a height of from 12 to 15 feet, in 

 places where it is undisturbed by cattle. The 

 Pen-csao-kiang-moo states, " from 20 to 30 feet 

 (literally many tens of feet) ; and some are so large 

 that two men cannot clasp them, but then they are 

 cut down as useless." These last, however, cannot 

 be deemed tea, and the authority of the compiler 

 is weakened by this classification. 



It remains to be considered, whether the Assam 

 tea tree is a greater deviation from the ordinary 

 growth of the wild tree in China, than the wild 

 tree from the stunted cultivated shrub. Are we 

 not too much in the habit of considering the cul- 

 tivated form as the natural one ? And is not the 

 tea tree presented to our minds, as resembling 

 more a gooseberry or currant bush, than a tree 

 whose natural growth is from twelve to fifteen feet 

 in height ? Further, it may be questioned whether 

 this deviation in height and form is greater than 

 may be found in other trees, — such as the olive, 

 the apple, the pear, oak, &c. Liebig says we know 

 nothing of the size which trees are enabled to 

 attain ; and it must be acknowledged that our 

 acquaintance with the habits of the tea tree is very 

 limited. 



If it be questioned whether a plant, indigenous 

 to a climate subject to severe frosts in the winter 

 season, can possibly be identical in species with 

 one growing luxuriantly under a tropical sun, it is 

 perhaps some answer, that the tea tree is known to 



