THE A. 



Jiavc been greatly at a lofs for a fpccific name, and liavc 

 adopted vlridis to avoid any needlefs change, thinking it 

 rather preferable to Bohea, which is a partial name, and of 

 corrupt orthography. Dr. Sims, in Curt. Mag., has iifed 

 chiiieiifis, bnt this is liable to objedlion, as the name of a 

 country to which the plant is not quite peculiar ; and 1m\\- 

 rciro's cantonknjls is therefore Hill more exceptionable. This 

 lall author concurs in the opinion that all the common Chi- 

 nefe teas belong to one fpecies. He defcribes indeed two 

 others, T. cochinchhienjis, which feems a ti-ifling variety of the 

 abo've ; and 7". okofa, growing wild near Canton, faid to 

 bear a yellow berry, whofe feeds fupply the Chinefe with 

 lamp-oil. 



Thea, in G(7r^/ra/n§-, furniflies plants of the exotic fhrubby 

 kind, the fpecies of which chiefly in ufe is the tea-tree 

 (thea). 



This tree, as it is commonly defcribed, differs in height, 

 in its native climate, from five or fix feet to thirty, and even 

 one hundred and fifty, or more, when let grow to its full 

 fize and dimenfions. 



And in refpeft to the varieties of it, Martyn has confidered 

 them all as forming one fpecies, in which he is, he afferts, 

 fupported by the belt authorities. Kxmpfer, he contends, 

 attributes their difference to foil, culture, age of the leaves, 

 and method of curing them. Mr. EUis alfo direftly afferts, 

 that the green and bohea tea are one and the fame fpecies ; 

 and that it is the nature of the foil, the culture, and manner 

 of gathering and drying the leaves, that make the difference. 

 So alfo fir George Staunton maintains, that every informa- 

 tion received concerning the tea plant concurred in affirming, 

 that its qualities depended upon the foil in which it grew, 

 and the age at which the leaves were plucked off the tree, 

 as well as upon the management of them afterwards. See 

 Te.\ and Thea. 



The bohea tea-trees now introduced into many botanic 

 gardens near London, exhibit very obvious varieties : the 

 leaves are of a deeper green colour, and not fo deeply fer- 

 rated ; and the llalk is ufually of a darker colour : but the 

 botanical charafters are the fame. Thunberg alfo diflin- 

 guifhes two varieties from the leaves, which in one are fmaller, 

 flat, darker green, with flraight ferratures, and in the other 

 larger, waved, brighter green, with finuate ferratures : but 

 they can fcarcely be confidered as diftinft fpecies. Loureiro 

 obferved little difference in the fou-chong which he exa- 

 mined : both thefe have a brown colour, but are more odo- 

 riferous and precious than the common bohea of the pro- 

 vince Fo-kien, which he had not an opportunity of feeing 

 in a living Rate, though it is the moft common and cheapeil 

 of all. He examined the dry flowers of the green-tea from 

 the province of Kiang-fi, and obferved the fame incon- 

 llancy as to the number of parts in the calyx and corolla, 

 as in the bohea. Upon the whole, he concludes that all the 

 differences of Chinefe tea form only one botanical fpecies, 

 owing their variation to foil, culture, and method of prepa- 

 ration ; all retaining the fame inconftancy in the parts of 

 llie flower, which gave occafion to Linnssus to confider 

 tliem as two fpecies. Befides, it is evident that many varie- 

 ties of tea are known in China, which arife from mixture 

 and management. 



The diff inftions chiefly regarded in Europe are the fol- 

 lowing. 



Green Tuts — i. Bing, imperial or bloom tea, with a large 

 loofe leaf, of a light green colour, and a faint delicate 

 fmell. 



2. Hy-tiann, liikiong, hayffuen or heechun, known to 

 as by the name of hy,foii tea : the leaves are clofely curled 



and fmall, of a green colour verging towards blue. Another' 

 hyfon tea, with narrow (liort leaves, is called hyfon-utchin. 

 Tliere is alfo a green tea named globe, with long narrow 

 leaves. 



3. Song-lo or finglo, which name it receives, like feveral 

 others, from the place where it is cultivated. 



Bohea Teas. — I. Soo-ciuion, fut-chong, fou-chong, or 

 fu-cliong, called by the Ciiinefe faa-tyang, and faft-ciiaon 

 or fy-tyann, is a fuperior kind of cong-fou tea. It imparts a 

 yellowiih-grecn colour by infufion, and has its name from a 

 place or province in Cliina. Padre futchong has a finer taite 

 and fmell : the leaves are large and yellowilh, not rolled up, 

 aiid packed in papers of half a pound each. It is generally 

 conveyed by caravans into RufTia : without much care 

 it will be injured at fea. It is rarely to be met with in 

 England. 



2. Cam-ho or foum-lo, c.illed after the name of the place 

 where it is gathered : a fragrant tea with a violet fmell ; its 

 infufion is pale. 



3. Cong-fou, Congo, or bong-fo : this has a larger leaf 

 than the following, and the infufion is a little deeper 

 coloured. It refembles the common bohea in the colour of 

 the leaf. 



There is alfo a fort called lin-kifam, with narrow rough 

 leaves. It is feldom ufed alone, but mixed with other kinds. 

 By adding it to Congo, the Chinefe fonietimes make a kind 

 of pekoe tea. 



4. Pekao, pecko, or pekoe, by the Chinefe called back- 

 ho or pack-ho : it is known by having the appearance of 

 fmall white flowers intermixed with it. 



5. Common bohea or black tea, called raoji or mo-ee 

 by the Chinefe, confifts of leaves of one colour. The belt 

 is named Tao-kyonn. An inferior kind is called An-kai, 

 from a place of that name. In the diflridl of Honam, near 

 Canton, the tea is very coarfe, the leaves yellow or brownifli, 

 and the tafte the leafl agreeable of any. By the Ciiinefe it 

 is named honam-te, or kuli-te. 



But befides thefe, tea, both bohea and green, is fometimes 

 imported in balls, from two ounces to the fize of a nutmeg 

 and of peas. The Chinefe call it poncul-tcha. The fmalleft 

 in this form is well known under the name of gunpowder 

 tea. 



And fometimes the fucculent leaves are twilled like pack- 

 thread, an inch and a half, or two inches long ; three of 

 thefe are ufually tied together at the ends by different co- 

 loured filk threads. Both green and bohea teas are pre- 

 pared in this manner. 



The manner of gathering and preparing the leaves, as 

 praftifed in Japan, according to Kampfer, as far as our in- 

 formation reaches, is in a great meafure conformable to the 

 method ufed by the Chinefe. See Tea. 



Whether the Chinefe colleft the tea precifely at the fame 

 feafons as in Japan, we are not well informed ; but mofl pro- 

 bably the tea harvefl; is nearly at the fame periods, the na- 

 tives having frequent intercourfe, and their commercial con- 

 cerns with each other being very extenfive. 



For an account of tlie preparation of the tea-leaves, &c. 

 fee Tea. 



The country people cure their tea-leav»'s in earthen kettles, 

 which anfwer every neceffary purpofe, at lefs trouble and 

 expence than by the procefs defcribed under the article Tea, 

 and they are thus enabled to fell them cheaper. After the 

 tea has been kept for fome months, it is taken out of the 

 veffels in which it was flored, and dried again over a very 

 gentle fire, that it may be deprived of any humidity which 

 remained, or it might have fince coiitradled. 



^ The 



