September 2, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TEA TREE, 
WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE MEDICAL 
QUALITIES OF TEA, AND ON THE 
EFFECTS OF TEA-DRINKING. 
A New Edition. 
By John Coakley Lettsom, m, d., London, 1799. 
Advertisement. 
In the year 1769 was printed an inaugural dis- 
sertation, intituled ' Observationes ad vires Thejs 
pertinentes.' In the year 1772 was published 
' The Natural History of the Tea Tree with 
observations, &c, which not only contained a 
translation of the Thesis, but likewise the natural his- 
tory of this vegetable, and which having been long out 
of print, it was thought a second edition would be 
favorably received by the public. In Sir George 
Staunton's Embassy to China, lately published, there 
are some remarks on Tea, which are occasionally referred 
to in the present edition ; and they are referred to 
with the satisfaction of confirming the relation first 
offered to the public in 1772. As the preface inserted 
at that time affords some hints respecting the in- 
troduction of the Tea-tree into Europe, it is prefixed 
to the present editiou. 
Preface to the First Edition, 1772. — The subject 
of the following Essay being now in general use among 
the inhabitants of this Kingdom, as well as in many 
other parts of Europe, and constituting a large part of 
our commerce, it cannot but afford pleasure to the 
curious to possess the history of a shrub, with the leaves 
of which they are so well acquainted. Many treatises 
have been published on the uses and effects of tea : a 
few writers have likewise given some circumstances 
relative to its natural history and preparation, the 
indefatigable Ktempfer particularly; but these circum- 
stances lie so dispersed, and the accounts which have 
been given of the virtues and efficacy of tea are in 
general so contradictory and void of true medical obser- 
vation, that it still seemed no improper subject for a 
candid discussion. The reader may at least have the 
satisfaction of seeing, in a narrow compass, tbe prin- 
cipal opinions relative to this subject. Within these 
three or tour years we have been successful enough to 
introduce into this Kingdom a few genuine tea pi mts. 
There was formerly, I am told, a very large one in 
England, the property of an East India captain, who 
kept it some years, and refused to part with either 
cuttings or layers. This died, and there was not 
another left in the Kingdom. A large, plant was not 
long since in t!ae possession of the great Liunseus, 
but, I am informed, it is now dead. I know several 
gentlemen, who have spared neither pains nor expence 
to procure this evergreen from China ; but their best 
endeavours have, in general, proved unsucessful. For, 
though many strong and good plants were shipped at 
Canton, and all possible care taken of them during the 
voyage, yet they soon grew sickly, and but one, till of 
late, survived the passage to England. The largest 
Tea-plant in this Kingdom is, I believe, at Kew: it was 
presented to that royal seminary by John Ellis, Esq., 
who raised it from the seed. But the plant at Sion 
House, belonging to the Duke of Northumberland, is 
the first that ever flowered in Europe: and an elegant 
drawing has been taken from it in that state, with its 
botanical description. The engraver has done justice to 
his original drawing, which is now in the possession of , 
that great promoter of natural history, Dr. Fothergill. 
to whom I have been iudebted for many dried specimens 
and flowers of the tea-tree from China. If the reader 
compare this plate with the following description, he 
will have as dear an idea of this exotic shrub as can 
at present be exhibited, A few young tea plants have 
lately been introduced into some of the most curious 
botauic gardens about London : hence it seeros probable 
that this very distinguished vegetable will become a 
denizen of England, aud such of her Colonies as may be 
deemed most favourable to its propagation. 
In regard to the effects of tea on the human consti- 
tution, one might have imagined that long and general 
use would have furnisbed so many indisputable proofs 
of its good aud bad properties, that nothing oould be 
23 
easier than to determine these with precision : yet 
so difficult a thing is it to establish physical certainty 
in regard to the operation of food or medicines on the 
human body, that our knowledge in general, even with 
respect to this article, is very imperfect. Nevertheless 
I have endeavoured to avail myself of what has been 
written on this subject by my predecessors with the 
appearance of reason, as well as of the conversation of 
learned and ingenious men now living, together with 
such experiments and observations as have occurred to 
me, so as to furnish the means of a more extensive 
knowledge of the subject. 
With respect to the present edition, subsequent in- 
formation has enabled me to enlarge it with some im- 
portant additions. Since the period of the original 
publication, the tea-tree has been introduced into many 
of our gardens, and afforded the means of ascertaining 
its botanical characters. I have at the same time the 
pleasure to observe, that the first edition has received 
the approbation of some of the most distinguished 
botanists. Linnreus, as well as Haller, as soon as they 
had perused it, conveyed to me their approbation in 
the kindest manner : Murray an! Oullen, and recently 
Schreber, have made frequent references to its authorities. 
If these distinguished characters have approved the 
former, I am encouraged to hope that the present 
edition will not be less favourably received by the public. 
Contents. 
Part I,— The Natural History of the Tea Tree. 
Section I. Class and Order. 
II. Synonyms. 
III. Authors upon Tea. 
IV. Origin of Tea. 
V. Soil and Culture. 
VI. Gathering the Leaves. 
VII. Method of Curing or Preparing Tea. 
VIII. Varieties of Tea. 
IX. Drinking of Tea. 
X. Succedanea. 
XI. Preserving the Seeds for Vegetation. 
Part II.— The Medical Histoby of Tea. 
Notes. — Among several hundred specimens of dried 
Tea flowers that I have examined, scarcely one in twenty 
was perfect. Some had three petals only, some nine, 
and others the several intermediate numbers. The 
greatest number consisted of six large petals, and 
externally three lesser ones of the same form. But 
the flowers which blossomed on the tea-plant belonging 
to the Duke of Northumberland, from whioh this de- 
scription is taken, consisted in general of six petals. One 
of the flowers indeed appeared to have eight petals : 
however, the number in the flowers in most plants vary 
considerably, which may account for the mistake of Dr. 
Hill, and Professor Linnaaus (who described this plant 
on Dr. Hill's authority) who make the green and bohea 
tea two distinct species, giving nine petals to the 
former, and six to the latter. 
In a flower I received from that accurate naturalist, 
J. Ellis, f. r. s. &c, I counted upwards of 280 filaments ; 
and in another I had from Dr. Fothergill, there appeared 
to be nearly the same number. 
Authors differ widely respecting the size of this tree. 
Le Compte says, it grows of various sizes from two feet 
to two hundred, and sometimes so thick that two men 
can scarcely grasp the trunk in their arms : though he 
afterwards observes, that the tea-trees he saw in the 
province of Fokien did not exceed five or six feet in 
height. (Journey through the Empire of China. London, 
1697. 8vo. p. 228.) Du Halde quotes a Chinese author 
who describes the height of different tea-trees from 
one to thirty feet. But Ksempfer, who is chiefly to be 
depended upon, confines the full growth to about a man's 
height. Probably this may be a just medium ; for 
Osbeck says that he saw tea-shrubs in flower-pots not 
above an ell high. 
Whether the word Tea is borrowed from the 
Japanese Tsjaa, or the Chinese Tlieh is not of much im- 
portance. By this name with very little difference in 
pronunciation the plant here treated of is well known 
in most parts of the world , 
