BOTANICAL DIFFERENCE. 329 



some attention to the botanical question as con- 

 cerning the two species of the tea plant, and having 

 had the opportunity of seeing many different plants, 

 as well as hearing the opinions of men qualified to 

 judge, I may, perhaps, be excused for offering that 

 opinion here. 



I incline, then, to the belief of Kerr that there is 

 only one species in China ; by which I mean, that 

 there is no natural difference in the plant. Whether 

 any varieties have become permanent in the soils 

 where they grow, that is, capable of propagation 

 by seed, as appears to be the fact with the Honan 

 plant at Canton, and apparently with the Ankoy 

 plant near Amoy ; or whether the plants, found in 

 the black and green tea districts, vary from each 

 other, and are more suitable to the modes of mani- 

 pulation adopted in each, is a question which can 

 only be satisfactorily determined by examination 

 and experiment on the spot. 



Enough, however, has been said to prove that the 

 modification of colour and form of the black and 

 green teas in their manipulated state, arises from a 

 different process of manipulation, independently of 

 any variety of the plant, or any quality of the soil. 

 And of flavour it may be said, that, all other cir- 

 cumstances being the same, the difference also arises 

 mainly from manipulation, though partly, perhaps, 

 from some accidental change produced in the plant 

 by atmospheric influence, soil, and cultivation. 



But whatever diversity of flavour may be due to 



