Chap. XVI. 



THE TEA-PLANT. 



283 



tion, accompanied with oxidation by exposure to the 

 air, and not to its being submitted to a higher tem- 

 perature in the process of drying, as had been gene- 

 rally concluded. My opinion was partly confirmed 

 by ascertaining from parties conversant with the 

 Chinese manufacture, that the leaves for the black 

 teas were always allowed to remain exposed to the 

 air in mass for some time before they were roasted." 



Here, then, we have the matter fully and clearly 

 explained ; and, in truth, what Mr. Warrington ob- 

 served in the laboratory of Apothecaries' Hall may 

 be seen by every one who has a tree or bush in his 

 garden. Mark the leaves which are blown from trees 

 in early autumn ; they are brown, or perhaps of a 

 dullish green, when they fall, and yet, if they are ex- 

 amined some time afterwards, when they have been 

 exposed to air and moisture in their detached state, 

 they will be found quite as black as our blackest 

 teas. 



I must now make some observations upon the tea- 

 plant itself. It has already been remarked that two 

 tea-plants, considered to be distinct varieties, are met 

 with in China, both of which have been imported into 

 Europe. One, the Canton variety, is called Thea 

 bohea ; the other, the northern variety, is called Thea 

 viridis. The former produces the inferior green and 

 black teas which are made about Canton, and from 

 the latter are made all the fine green teas in the great 

 Hwuy-chow country and in the adjoining provinces. 

 Until a few years back it was generally supposed that 

 the fine black teas of the Bohea hills were also made 



