THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [July 2, 1894. 
26 
Tt'A. 
The use of tea as a beverage di'i not spread iu 
Europe as rapidly aa that of coffee d'd. It was ouly 
well toward the middle of the Fevsriteentb. century 
that it inado i(a first appeirance in Paris, 
Commissioner Delamarre, in his '' Traite de U 
Police," tells us that tea commenced to coni>? into 
use in Paris in 1636, an emertion not backel upwi'h 
proofs, it is true, but one tbat I am deposed to accept. 
I find tea, however, first mentioned in a letter from 
Paris, written l.y Guy Patin, dated Maroh 22, 1648. It 
erst a pretty penny at that time, if we may believe 
Father Alexander, of Rhodes, who eajs : - " The Hol- 
landers curry tay fit is thus written iu the original 
from which I would infer that Pere Alexander de 
Rhodes, like the " Wild Man of Borneo," of the dime 
museum, cime rather from Tippe a-y then from 
Rhodes. Coccernjng the price of the " tay," of which 
be complains, I would s*y that 24s rer lb. (a livre 
was equivalent in va'ue to about ten pence of our 
money, and a sol was a tweu'ieth pirt of a livre) 
would be considered very low even now for a 
really first-c'asa article of lei, suoh as Russians 
of the better class use today. Th-3 wri'er has 
paid as high as 20 roubles (£3 2s) the piutd 
for the test tea, wh ch at taut time was bright 
overlaud through Asia by ca-avan. A specimen of 
tea from Oylon recently sold in Loudon at auction, 
at £8 the pound.— F. L. J.] from China to Paris, a nd 
thero sell for 30 livree the pound what cost them.iu 
that country 8 to 10 s Is, and yet I notice that, or 
the most part, the tay is very old and musty." 
Chancellor Seguier, about this time, accepted tbe 
dedication to bim of a thesis upon the virtues, medi- 
cinal and otherwise, of tea. It is very probable that 
the influence of this high dignitary had a marked 
effect upon the faculty of mediiine, since the latter, 
so hostile, as we bave seen, to coffee, allowed itself 
to ba ea ily persuade! in the case of tea. 
In 1659 the learned Dr. Denis Jonquet did nit 
hesitate to call tea the "divine herb," in which 
he -'found all the delights of ambrosia." In 
1685 Dr. Sylvester Defour deolared that tea 
"infallibly cured" a great number of mala lies; 
that it was such a powerful diuretio that, taken 
in quantity, it would cause diabetes in which tbere Is 
according to the doctor, "a mighty <opiou« flux of 
urine, resembling the tea that one has drunk." 
Society followed the surrender of the faculty, and 
in spite of its high price tea was held in such 
honour in 1694, according to Apothecary Pomet, that 
"there were very few piople ot quality and of well- 
to-do bourgeois who di i not use it." Scarron com- 
merced to use tes. in 1659, and iu 1680 Madame de 
Sabliere conceived the addition of mi:k to the brew. 
We learn that the Princess de Tarente, at this time, 
drank twelve cupi of tea duly. She continued to 
use it though only iu the mornings, up to the time 
of her death. Daniel Huet, the learned bishop of 
Avrauches, who died at the good old age of 91 year", 
was a passionate lover of tea. Ho declared that its 
delightful odour s?emed at once to elear away the 
mists from his brain, and hence be called it his braiu- 
broom (le balai de Vesprit) . The Princess Palatiup, 
on the contrary, would use neither tea nor coffve, 
reserving to the last her German passion for beer, 
and for chovx an Sucre (cabbage dressed with sugar). 
CHOCOLATE. 
First imported into Europe from Mexico by the 
Spanish C nquistadores, ehocolaie was long considered 
a medicine, and it was as such iha' it first made its 
way into France It was at once accepted by the 
faculty of medicine with whom it has ever been a 
favourite. 
In 1684 the b icoalaureate Foucault took for r,h 
thesis the subject, "An chocolate usua ealubrie," — Is 
the use of chocolate healthy? His work was a 
ptBan, an enthusiastic euloginm on the Mexican bean. 
He declares, however, that if one use: it for the 
pleasure it (rives, he must limit himself to two rupa 
per diem. Tbe bilious should pr- pare it wish water 
of endives, and the constipates should add rhubarb 
to it. It fehoold always be avoided during the do.-- 
days. It t» of at service to those wbo'e stomach* 
bave become eufeebled by colics, diarrheal borboii- 
(metoorism), and too copion* < valuations. It is to 
nourishing that o roup or niett bouillon cau sus'ain 
life i o long it eo well. 
Dr. Blegny recommends its use in "colds (rheums) 
and fluxions of the cheat, inflammations of the n rc 
insomnia, chorela morbus, dktfbOM and dj sentsiy " ; 
while in the etee of Dr. Hecquet. Dean of "the 
Faoultv in 1712, " chocolate was scarcely to be con- 
sidered as having the quality or title of a drink, but 
should be placed among the bouillons and c< n c on -■ c- 
so nouri<hin< is it and full nf juice, being itself 
capable of susfaiti g the life and strength if even 
the most robus'." Kicb.il s Andry, a colleague of 
Hecquet, in 1713, stati s that " rhoeo'ate cures even 
phth'si", but," be adds, as a i .-. ,ug olau«\ "not aa 
a rule." 
In this concert of praiseful song there is, rf 
course, lii-re and tbeie a due rdant no «• whils 
ohocola'e even hal its enemies a- d detractors. 
The celebrated Engii h doctor, I nter, in 1698. 
declares it to be " a i angerous aperient, t ut at 
the same time a gross sort of food tbat might suit 
the stomach of an Indian " ; and Dr. Duncan, in 
1705, gave his ocnderauatiou to chocolat". Contrary 
toSangrado, m.d., of facetious memory, Duncan pre- 
scribed only hot drinks. 
The Princess P*latiur, along with te» and coffc, 
abborr.d choo<ltte, aud accused it of all m nner ot 
diet tie and bygiuio malfeasances, not to eay felin e <. 
In a letter •>-. November 10th 1716, >he area de- 
clared th»t chocohte had spoiled the teeth of Q ieeu 
Cbtisline. 
Between two evilt, it is a good rule to eboore the 
lesser one. Tu- I'arisians, wtio knew bow to prepare 
chocolate in the mist perfect manner, were always 
paesionately fond of choco'a'e, ai;d its pra see were 
sung by everybody.— Good Health. 
ESSENTIAL OILS. 
The Semi Annual Beport of Mis rs. > chimin i \ 
(Jo, of Leipzig & New York, is as usual full of 
interest. — We make two quotatioue of kesl 
interest : — 
Citbonella Oit..— Practical results have already 
accrued from the measures taken by us to put a stop 
to the adulteration if this. oil with kerosene and fixe t 
oils, a malpractice which bad been gradually gaining 
grouu^. As far back as October 1893 the fiim of K. 
'1'. Delmege iu Point tie (ialle, Ceylon, informed us 
t'jat they were pn pared to supply cilrouella < il 
answering tbe requiri meats presorited by us. More 
lecently, also, the firm of Volkart Brother a of Co'-omb) 
offered us citronella oil '■ standing Schimm 1 & Co's 
teat," and although the consignment of about 10 tons 
ordered by us as a rsmlt of this offer has not ye: 
come into our pofs'B ion, it cau har.Uy be doubted 
that it will be delivered accoi ding to the terms of the 
contract. These atitements teem t) prove that up to 
the present everything has not been above toird in 
thi manufacture of cictooella oil. It is to the ime-est 
of a'l importers that inpUeiug their orders they thoald 
make it a ooudition th»t the oil be conform to our test, 
iu order thit thefavourab e result of our iaterve^t ou 
may not ire long be Lost a^ain. 
The prices of citronella oil have remained unchanged 
and it may now be stated thit they have r ached tie 
utmost possible limit of re iuctioo. The shipments 
hav e decreased, during the last fiw^e.irs, t) an ex'ent 
wbicbappeir* to indicate a redijaed con?umptiou, a 
kind of '• citrom lla aversion," (if we may call it by 
that name), iu th • eoap-iudustry. 
T eex r o-ta from Colombo auj Gailr, the or ly two 
Ceylo i portj from which citroueila o.l is ah pped 
were : — 
10,696,481 oz in 1893, aga'mt 
13,512,026 ... ... „ 1892 
11,263,581 , ,,1891 
14,559,075 „ ... „ 1890 
10,263,433 „ 1889 
