562 Description of the Species of Camellia and Thea. 



is mentioned to have been first brought to England by Lord 

 Arlington and Lord Ossory in 1666. Shortly afterwards 

 it began to be much used among the higher classes, but 

 its properties were little known until the appearance of 

 Dr. Lettsom's Monograph in 1799, which contains much 

 curious information. This author has fallen into the same 

 error as those who preceded him, in considering that there 

 was only one species of the Tea plant, and that the difference 

 was owing to soil and culture, and the manner of drying the 

 leaves. Those who have seen the two species in a living state 

 readily agree in considering them distinct. 



Respecting the size to which the Tea tree will attain in 

 China, Authors differ widely. 



Le Compte says (Journeij in China, p. 228) it grows from 

 2 to 200 feet in height, and sometimes so thick that two men 

 can scarcely grasp the trunk in their arms ; but he afterwards 

 observes that the Tea trees in the Province of Tokien did 

 not exceed five or six feet in height, which appears to be 

 much nearer the truth, and agrees with the account given by 

 K^empfer in his Amcenitates Exotica?, p. 605, and by 

 Osbeck in his Voyage to China, Vol. 1, p. 247. It is cul- 

 tivated principally in vallies, or on the declivities of hills, 

 having a southern exposure to the sun, and is said to bear 

 considerable variations of temperature, flourishing in the 

 northern climate of Pekin as well as about Canton. 



