128 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



reader; besides this, many more are employed in the sophis- 

 tication of the true tea, amongst which may be mentioned 

 the leaves of the Black-thorn [Primus spinosa) and those 

 of the Hawthorn (Cratcsgus Oxyacanilia). 



It will be seen from what we have said of tea, its imita- 

 tions and adulterations, that the injurious habit of drinking 

 warm relaxing fluids has become almost universal. Its 

 introduction into Europe is comparatively recent, having 

 been first brought in by the Dutch East India Company. 

 The first sample reached England in 1666, and sold at the 

 high price of sixty shillings per pound, a price which is 

 still realized in China for the finest qualities, which however 

 rarely reach Europe. Examples of these high-priced teas 

 were shown at the Great Industrial Exhibition. The use 

 of the Paraguay tea is of ancient origin, and not in imita- 

 tion of our use of the Chinese plant ; it was found general 

 amongst the natives when the Portuguese conquered Brazil, 

 and has become a fashionable beverage amongst the European 

 settlers all over the South American continent. 



It must be observed that the value of these preparations 

 for dietetic purposes depends, not upon their agreeable 

 taste or nutritive qualities, but upon some stimulant pro- 

 perty, probably analogous in many of them. Of all the 



