124 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



lihefy or under bark^ of the Broussonetia joapi/rifera ; it is of 

 a silky texture^ straw colour^ and is made without size. The 

 total quantity of tea imported into the United Kingdom in 

 1851 was 52^640,000 lbs., of the gross value (duty paid) of 

 £9,675,000 (Poole's Statistics). The quantity re-exported 

 is considerable, and is said to be nearly 2000 tons. 



Although never imported, except as a curiosity, and cer- 

 tainly never used in England, we must not omit to mention 

 the curious Brick Tea'' of Tibet. It is in blocks shaped 

 like bricks, or in coarse fragments of such blocks ; the 

 blocks are usually wrapped in paper or sewn up in sheep- 

 skins. It is even more objectionable than the lie tea,'^ 

 being made of the refuse leaves and sweepings of the tea 

 warehouses mixed with bullocks' blood, then made damp 

 and pressed into moulds and dried by fire-heat. 



Paeaguay Tea. — The broken leaves and smaller twigs 

 of the Paraguay holly. Ilex Paraguay ensis, and probably also 

 those of Z. Gongonha and /. theezans, (Nat. Ord. Aqui- 

 foliacecB.) 



This production of Brazil, and various other parts of 

 South America, is extensively used in those countries as a 

 substitute for tea, which it strongly resembles in smell and 

 in taste. It has also been proved that theiney the active 



