478 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



and the mode of preparing and drying. Originally, pure green 

 tea was considered the finest, and brought the highest price ; 

 the demand led to its being artificially coloured, even 

 almost to shiny blue, as may be sometimes seen in 

 grocers' windows. This is chiefly done to meet the English 

 taste, the Chinese tea-dryer saying he would as readily make 

 yellow or red tea, if these colours would fetch a higher 

 price. The substances used for the processes of colouring 

 are to be seen in the Museum at Kew, and may be considered 

 quite genuine, as they were obtained during the time the 

 process was being performed. Tea now forms one of the 

 greatest articles of commerce in the civilized world; and 

 although as an article of food it could be dispensed with, yet 

 it has become such a universal beverage, that to be deprived 

 of it would be felt as a great loss. It was introduced into 

 Europe by the Dutch two hundred years ago, but does not 

 appear to have been used in England until one hundred 

 years later, and was rare at the end of the eighteenth 

 century ; indeed, it may be said that it is only during the 

 present century that it has come into general use with rich 

 and poor. For the Northern Asia and Kussian markets tea 

 is made up into solid hard lumps like bricks, and is boiled 

 and eaten as a vegetable. In Assam, the native tea-plant 

 has been cultivated for more than twenty years ; and more 

 recently, the Chinese varieties have been introduced into 

 India, and extensive plantations formed in the cooler regions. 

 Large quantities have been manufactured, but as yet it is 

 wholly consumed in that country. The virtues of tea are 

 due to a principle called " Theine," which is also contained 

 in Paraguay tea and coffee. 



Camellia {Camellia Japonicd). This beautiful and well- 

 known shrub is a native of China and Japan, and is recorded 

 as being introduced into this country some time previous to 

 1740. The normal character of the flower is single red, but 

 the double, of both red and white, as well as a variety called 

 Waratah, have been long cultivated at Kew. During the 

 last fifty years many fine new varieties have been raised, 



