FIRST REPLY. 143 



threw them on the ground. But a god caused a Tea-shrub 

 to spring out of them, the leaves of which exhibit the form 

 of an eyelid bordered with lashes, and possess the gift of hin- 

 dering sleep." At the period when the Europeans first became 

 acquainted with it, it was already spread generally over the 

 whole of south-eastern Asia, and Europe did not long 

 remain behind its teachers. No less than 25,000 tons are 

 annually exported by sea from China ; over Kiachta some 

 5,000; to Thibet, India, &c., perhaps nearly 15,000. In 

 China and Japan themselves, certainly 200,000 tons are 

 consumed, so that the whole produce is not over-estimated 

 at 250,000 tons. 



With the same passion with which the Chinese takes 

 his Tea, the Brazilian and almost the whole population of 

 South America rejoice in their Mate, or Paraguay tea, the 

 leaves of a Brazilian Holly (Ilex Paraguayensis), which is 

 sometimes confounded with the Camini, the leaves of the 

 Cassine Gonyonha, or with the Guarana, a kind of Coffee, 

 prepared from the seeds of Paullinia sorbilis. The use 

 of Mate also has been a custom in Brazil from time 

 immemorial. 



Thus have all these beverages become everywhere neces- 

 saries of life; everywhere is the origin of their use 

 enveloped in mythical obscurity ; everywhere has man, 

 not led by rational considerations, by knowledge of the 

 properties and action, or by comparison of them with 

 already known nutritive substances, but, as it were, instinc- 

 tively added them to the number of his daily wants. 



On account of the importance of the substance itself, 

 and of the interest which must naturally have been excited 

 by the considerations just alluded to, Chemistry has sought 

 to know how far it is able to contribute to the explanation 

 of these strange phenomena. The result has proved con- 



