TEA TE.EE. 
are purified by the subsequent fermentation. 
Notwithstanding this uncleanly operation of 
Chinese packers, the upper ranks in China are 
as fond ©f Tea as the people are, and particu- 
larly solicitous in their choice of it : that of 
a good quality is dearer in Pekin tlian in Lon- 
don. It is sometimes made up into Balls, as 
has been already mentioned. A strong Black 
Extra6t, also, is frequently made from it. 
Many virtues are attributed to Tea, which is 
in universal use thoughout the empire. The 
warm infusion of any aromatic herb is, no 
doubt, likely to be grateful to persons exhausted 
by fatigue, frequently occasioning a violent 
perspiration ; as well as to stomachs labouring 
with indigestion. One of the best qualities of 
it, perhaps, is that the taste for it, and the ha- 
bit of drinking it, at all times lessens the relish 
for fermented and inebriating liquors. The 
poor infuse the sam^e leaves several times over. 
'I'his plant is cultivated in several of the pro- 
vinces of China, but seldom more northernly 
than thirty degrees beyond the Equator. It 
thrives best between that parallel and the hne 
that separates the temperate from the torrid 
zone; though it is to be found, also, in the.- 
Chinese 
