May I, 1894.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
767 
MR. ERNEST HART ON TEA. 
There are few more striking or icfluenlial per- 
eoQalities ia tiie Medical and EJitorial world of 
Loiidou, than Mr. Erneat Hart. As Editor of the 
British Medical Journal he wields an immansa 
inHuenoe, and aa a koturer on Sanitary, Dietctio 
and even Social subjects he and Mrs. Hart are 
viry frequently bsfore the intoUeutual and philiin- 
thropio world of the metropolis. The Warden of 
Toynbee Hall and ox-Whiteohapel Vioar, the Kov. 
a. A. Barnelt and Mr. Hart are brothera-in-law, 
and both ware in Colombo, it wiil ba remembered, 
three years ago, Mr. Birnett spending some time 
in the is'aud, while Mr. Hart merely ciUed in 
on hia way to Japan. Still, the opportunity was 
not lost for interestiug him in Coyion and Britiah- 
growu teas aa well as in his favourite ''Japan's"; 
and afterwards during our trip to Eoglaod, we 
paid a special visit to the very busy Medical 
Journal oi'lice in the Strand acd afforded informa- 
tion and left pape>'s ca'calated to correot the 
erroneous notions promulgated by so great an 
autiiority as Sir Andrew Clarke in reference to 
the launin in Indian and Ceylon teas. Wo do 
not know how far Mr. Hart may have been in- 
fluoBcel by such information; but we have bjen 
much interested in an Adcress he lately gave in 
bia capacity as Chairman of the Council of the 
National Health Society, on Tea, Coffee, Cocoa 
and allied beverages. We reproduce this 
address in full on page 772 from the British 
Medical Jourml and think it will repay a care- 
ful perusal. There are a few rather puzzling 
atateaicuts and others with which we cannot 
quite agree ; and English reviewers of the lec- 
ture arc aa much perplexed aa we are at some of 
Mr. Uart'a authoritative utterances. "It has 
long been the profound conviction oi the human 
race,'' says our reviewer, " that when tea has been 
allowed to draw for more than three or four 
minutes, it becomes full of tannin and so plays 
havoc with the coata of the stomach and the 
nervea. And now comes Mr. Ernest Hart telling 
us that there is juat as much tannin in three 
minutes' tea as there ia in twenty minutes' tea, 
and that, in any case the tannin ia not parlioulirly 
injurious. It is, however, within the experience 
of mo.st people that if you drink twenty minutaa' 
tea just before dinner, your appetite beeomea a 
figment of the imagination ; and that if you driak 
the same beverage juat before going to bed sljep 
recedes bsfore you as the shores of Italy before 
.iEoeas. To the average drinker of tea it m&tters 
little whether its particular poison ia oalieJ tannin 
or theine. By any name it is equally noxious, and 
it oan only be avoided by a fresh brew." In this, 
it is impossible not to agree ; anything in excess 
ol a five-minutsb' infusion in the case of average 
Oeylon tea makes a great difference in the quality 
and taslc of the brew. The ''warm compliment" 
which Mr. Hart pays to the Caylou teas is of 
much praclioiil value, and will, we have no doubt, 
eutiroly counteract any effeota left by Sir Andrew 
Ularkc'a blundering depreciation. We do not, 
however, (juito understand how Mr. Hart 
oau speak bo favourably of Japan teas, 
aa a whole. He says: — "The only true 
natural green tea produced in quantity by any 
oouDlry now, is the green tea of Japan as drunk 
by the natives and consumed in America," Now 
in travollicg througli Japan and thence to San 
Frauoiaoo iu 1881, we had the Bsaurance of large 
Amorioan buyers that scarcely a lb. of " greon 
tea" sent from Japan to America escaped arti- 
fioial facing with Prussian blue and other de 
letf rioua subataiicoa ; while on the other hand we 
huvd always heard the natural grcoo tens, the 
97 
Oolonga of Formosa spoken of the very finest 
used inAmariaa. In denouncing the European taste 
for "strong, bitter, fermented" teas, Mr. Uart 
almost takes away from the compliment paid 6 
little before to Indian and Ueylon t' as. Howevtr, 
h? specially alludes to the " Ceylons " as con- 
', fining less tannin, than the "Indians" though 
quite aa much theine. Then aga^n, the com- 
parison Mr, Hart inatitut'S between coffoo as ordi- 
narily Hold and tea is to the immensa advantage 
of the latter. Mr, Hart's lecture— or the popular 
parts of it— should be placarded all over America, 
and also (after translation) over the Contiutnt 
of Europe. The Editor of the British Medical 
Journal has a reputation from Moscow or St. 
Petersburg to San Francisco or Japan. Wa 
only wish he could spare a few months 
of his busy life to pay a winter's viais 
to Oeylon and see, among other things, evtry- 
thing connected with the preparation of our 
teas grown at various altitudes in the i?laHd. 
Mefintiiue, the Committee of the Ceylon Tea Fund 
should make a point of sending Mr. Hart -as 
" Chairman of the Council of the National Health 
Society" as well- a.s Editor of the British Medica 
Journal—^ special case of the very linast t'oyloa 
Orange or rather "Broken Pekoe," to show him, 
among other things that he can safely reconiinond 
Ceylon "Broken Pekoes" and even some of our 
finer "Pekoes," as cordially aa the ' Orange Pekoes," 
to suoh of his friends or readers as require a 
delicate-flavoured, mild and yet satisfying tea. 
We feel sure the compliment would bo appreciated 
and we think it has bei-n eirncd by all that 
is said for Ceylon teas in the important and 
valuable address under notioo. 
♦ 
INDIAN TEA FOR THE UNITED STATE.S. 
The Englishman announces that the Indian tea 
Aseooiation has decided upon a plan of action for 
the American campaign. Mr. Bleuhynden will ba 
intrusted with the further operations in the United 
Stiites. His engagement will be for a piyriod of two 
years, widi the prospect of an indefinite oxtouaion 
in tha event of the succesa of the scheme being 
roilised. According to our contemporary, India's 
plan is totally different from Ceylon's. Mr.Bleohynd( a 
will work hand in hand with " the trade" iu 
Afuorica, and all his efforts will ba directed to the 
advertising of Indian tea in the widest sense of thd 
term. Not only will Indian tea be advertised ox 
tensively in the American press, but full advantage 
will be takeu of the local Exhibitions and 
•' State Fairs" which are so frequendy held in 
America The locil Exhibition ot " Food Shows," 
organised by the grocer;, are valuable moana ol 
bringing trade products to the notice of those 
whom it is moit desirable t> roach. Mr, 
Bleahynden will take with him four smart kliii- 
matgard, whose services will be valuable iu oonueo- 
tiou with what are known in the Stateij aa " Deiuou- 
strations." The o j^ot of tlu.sj Domonslrationa 
is to bring any article ot Iradj directly ai;d forcibly 
to the notioo of the public. In coniuctiun with 
ten, a particular city will be seltctod, and the 
four Natives, attractively dreafoj, will be placed 
in one of the principal shops or stores. They 
will remain there until the inlerect of the public 
is roused, when tiny will be removed to 
another store in a different part of the city. 
.Store aftir store will thus be visited, 
and when one city has boon '• worked " 
i» move will b> nia b) to eoiuo other centre. Mr 
Blechyiiden'a aiai ia, in fart, to work llu.JU^:h the 
'■middlonian." while Ceylon favours the idoa of 
