92 
NAT. ORDER. THEACE^E. 
we cannot suppose that nature ever made them totally different. 
The same observation wiW be equally applicable to the various 
■flavors and colors of this exotic. We may therefore infer that the 
Chinese method of curing their fine Teas is not quite so simple as 
that i^racticed by the Japanese. 
Tea was first introduced into Europe by the Dutch East 
India Company, and into England about the year 1666, when it 
sold for sixty English shillings per pound, and for many years its 
great price limited its use only to the most opulent. Its use was 
introduced into this country at the time of its settlement by our 
forefathers, and has now become a common beverage of both the 
rich and poor ; and its effects have been variously represented ; — 
but as to enter fully upon this subject would far exceed the limits 
of this work, we shall refer the reader for a more full account to 
Dr. Lettsom's elaborate history of the Tea tree ; and conclude 
this article with a transcript of its medicinal powers, as given by 
Dr. Cullen, whose opinion in this place cannot fail to be well re- 
ceived. 
" With respect to its qualities as a medicine, that is, its power 
of changing the state of the human body, we might suppose it as- 
certained by the experience of its daily use ; but from the univer- 
sality of this use in very different conditions of the plant, and in 
every possible condition of the persons employing it, the conclu- 
sions drawn from its effects must be very precarious and ambigu- 
ous, and we must attempt by other means to ascertain its qualities 
with more certainty. 
"To this purpose, it appears from Dr. Smith's experiments, 
that an infusion of green Tea has the effect of destroying the sen- 
sibility of the nerves, and the irritability of the muscles ; and from 
the experiments of Dr. Lettsom, it appears that green Tea gives 
out, in distillation, an odorous water, which is powerfully narcotic. 
That the recent plant contains such an odorous narcotic power, is 
not to be doubted ; for we find that the Chinese take great pains 
