NAT. OnDER. THEACE^. 93 
in drying it, before they will suffer it to be brought into us(i ; and 
that even after such preparation, they usually abstain from its use 
for a year or more, that is, until its volatile parts are all completely 
dissipated ; and it is said that unless they use this precaution, the 
Tea, in a more recent state, manifestly shows strong narcotic 
powers. Even in this country, the more odorous Teas often show 
their sedative powers in weakening the nerves of the stomach, and 
sometimes the whole system." 
From these considerations, we may safely conclude, that Tea 
is to be considered as a narcotic and sedative substance ; and that 
it is powerfully such in its odorous state, and therefore less in the 
Bohea than in the Green Tea, and the most so in the more odor- 
ous, or what are called the finer and better sorts. Its effects, how- 
ever, seem to be very different in its operation upon different con- 
stitutions ; and hence so many different and contradictory accounts 
that are reported of these effects. But if we consider the differ- 
ence of constitution, which occasions some difference of the 
operation of the same medicine in different persons, and of which 
we have a remarkable proof in the operation of opium and other 
narcotics, we should not be surprised at the different operations 
of Tea. 
If to this we add the falicy arising from the condition of the 
Tea employed, which is often so inert as to have no effects at all ; 
and if we still add to this the power of habit, which can destroy 
the powers of the most powerful substances, we shall not allow 
the various, and even contradictory reports of its effects to alter 
our judgment with respect to its qualities in affecting the human 
body. Thus, from the experiments above mentioned, and from 
observations with which every physician must necessarily become 
more or less familiar, in witnessing its effects upon all sorts of per- 
sons, we must be convinced that the qualities of Tea are narcotic 
and sedative. 
Tt is often contended that the bad effects imputed to Tea, are 
