species, none of -which, however, are em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of tea. All are 

 evergreens, and either shrubs or small 

 trees', with shining leathery leaves and 

 white or rose-coloured flowers, cither 

 solitary or in clusters in the leaf-axils. 



The native country of the Tea-plant, 

 like that of many others which have been 

 lone cultivated by man, is uncertain. 

 Hitherto the only country in which it has 

 been found in a really wild state is 

 Tpper Assam ; but China, where it has 

 for so many centuries been most ex- 

 tensively cultivated, has not yet received 

 so thorough an exploration by botani- 

 cal travellers as to warrant the asser- 

 tion tliat it is not indigenous to any 



Thea viridis. 



part of that vast empire. A Japanese 

 tradition, however, which ascribes its in- 

 troduction to China to an Indian Buddhist 

 priest who visited that country in the 

 sixth century, favours the supposition of 

 its Indian origin. 



It was at one time commonly supposed 

 that the two well-marked sorts of Tea, 

 Black and Green, were the produce of dis- 

 tinct species ; but Mr. Fortune has proved 

 that the Chinese manufacture the different 

 kinds indiscriminately from the same 

 plant ; and botanists are now pretty gene- 

 rally agreed that the two supposed Chinese 

 species, called T. Bohea and T. viridis, are 

 nothing more than varieties of one and 

 the same species, for which Linnaeus' 

 name, T. chinensis, is adopted, and of 

 which the Assam Tea-plant (sometimes 

 called T. assamica) is merely a third va- 

 riety, or perhaps, indeed, the wild type. 



Though the produce of the same variety 

 of the Tea-plant, the Black and Green 

 Teas prepared for exportation are mainly 

 the growth of different districts of China, 

 the Black Tea district being situated in 

 the provinces of Fokien and Kiangsi, and 

 the Green in Chekiang and Nganwhi ; 

 but the two kinds may be produced in 

 either district, the difference being caused 

 solely by the diverse methods of prepa- 

 ration. For the manufacture of Black 

 Tea the freshly-gathered leaves, freed from 



extraneous moisture by a short exposure 

 in the open air, are thrown in small quan- 

 tities at a time into round fiat iron pans, 

 and exposed to gentle fire-heat for about 

 five minutes, which renders them soft and 

 pliant, and causes them to give off a large 

 quantity of moisture. After this they 

 are emptied out into bamboo sieves, and 

 whilst still hot repeatedly squeezed and 

 rolled in the hands to give them their 

 twist or curl. They are next shaken out 

 on large screens, and placed in the open 

 air in the shade for two or three days ; 

 and finally exposed in iron pans to a slow 

 and steady fire-heat until completely dried, 

 care being taken to keep them in constant 

 motion to prevent burning. The chief 

 difference in the manufacture of genuine 

 Green Tea consists in the leaves being so 

 Ions exposed to the air after rolling that 

 fermentation does not take place, and in 

 not being subjected to such a high tem- 

 perature in the final drying, but the 

 sreater part, if not the whole, of the 

 Green Tea consumed in Europe and Ame- 

 rica is coloured artificially by the Chinese 

 to suit foreign trade. The Chinese dis- 

 tinguish a great number of varieties of 

 Tea, some of which sell for as much as 

 50s. per lb. ; but these fine kinds will not 

 bear a sea-voyage, slid are used only by 

 the wealthier classes in China and Russia, 



■ to which country they are carried over- 

 ! Irnd. In ordinary commerce four kinds cf 



Black and six of Green Tea are recognised, 

 but the difference between them consists 

 chiefly in size, the several kinds being ob- 

 tained by sifting. The principal Black 

 Teas are— Bohea, \he coarsest kind, but now 

 seldom if ever imported, Covgou, which 

 forms the bulk of our tea; Souchong and 

 Pekoe, both finer and dearer kinds , while 

 the Green Teas are Hyson Skin, Twankay 

 Hyson, Young Hyson, Imperial, and Gun- 

 powder — the latter being the smallest, 

 closest curled, and generally the youngest 

 leaves, and the Hyson Skin the largest, 

 least curled, and oldest. 



Tea was introduced into Europe by the 

 Dutch East India Company some time in I 

 the first half of the seventeenth century, 

 but it does net appear to have made ; 

 its way into England before a.d. 1660; j 

 and although the English East India Com- 

 pany turned their attention to the tea- 

 tracie in 1678, when they imported 4,713 lbs , 

 it was still a rarityat the close of the seven- 

 teenth century. The official trade accounts 

 commence in 1725, in which year 370,323 lbs. 

 were consumed in the United Kingdom. 

 Half a century later the quantity had 

 risen to 5,648,188 lbs. In the first year of the 

 present century the quantity entered for 

 home consumption was 23,730,150 lbs.; 

 while in 1861 it was no less than 77,949,464 

 lbs., the revenue derived from this latter 

 quantity amounting to 5,521,320?., the duty j 

 being- Is. Sdper pound. In 1863 upwards of ' 

 136,000.000 lbs. were imported, of which ; 

 85,206,779 lbs. were entered for home con- 

 sumption. At present the duty is 6rf. per lb. j 



Physiologists are not thoroughly aereed i 

 as to the effects of tea upon the human 



an i 



