sy descripción here. Mr pee have been 
even meng ee writers, Sage seg 
it excessively, while others are as strenuous 
in its condemnation; it seems probable, 
therefore, that it possesses no very decided 
properties, either good or bad. It is gene- 
rally understood that its original use in 
China was to correct the ill taste of the 
water, which in many parts of that country 
an unparallelled extent, and thus an article 
which, two hundred years ago, had never 
been heard of, is become not only one of the 
necessaries of life to all, from the cottage 
to the palace; but at the same time an 
immense branch of commerce, and the 
source of a prodigious revenue to the state. 
