ynia ; and in the natural system ranging utt- 
er the 45th order, umbel lata.*. The fruit is 
blono-, and girt with a membrane. There 
re six species ; the viilosa, fetida, asclepi- 
m, garganica, trifoliata, and polygami. '1’he 
oots of the fetida were formerly ordered in 
redicine, but are now entirely disused; a 
mall dose operating with extreme violence 
joth upwards and downwards, 
i THEA, the tea-tree, in botany, a genus of 
Ihe class and order polyandria ‘monogynia. 
The corolla is six or nine-petalled ; the calyx 
jive or six-leaved ; tire capsule tricoccous. 
There a>-e two species, or at least principal 
Varieties ; the viridis or green, and the bo- 
jiea, which again admit of various subdivi- 
sions or varieties. There is, however, much 
Uncertainty on this point. The country of 
{which the tea plant is a native,* is hidden from 
Hhe exploring eye of the pnirosopmv ; it is 
(jealous of Europeans, and seldom gives them 
tan opportunity of studying its productions. 
The tea plant is a native of Japan, China, 
and Tonquin, and has not, as 1 far as we can 
learn, been found growing spontaneously in 
any other part of the world. Sir Charles 
Tlnmberg, one of the most distinguished pu- 
pils of Linnaeus, who resided sixteen months 
in Batavia and Japan, has given a full botani- 
j cal description of the tea plant; and having 
classed it in tire same manner as his master, 
says expressly that it has only one style. Se- 
1 veial of the British botanists, on the other 
hand, refer it to the order of trigynia; de- 
i riving, their authority from a plant in the 
duke of Northumberland’s garden at Sion- 
house> which had three styles. 
Linnaeus says that there are two species 
of the tea plant ; the bohea, the corolla of 
which has six petals ; and the viridis, or green 
i pea, which has nine petals. Thunberg makes 
I only one species, the bohea, consisting of two 
varieties : the one with broad and the other 
with narrow leaves. This botanist’s authority 
is decisive respecting the Japanese tea plants; 
but as China has not yet been explored, we 
i cannot determine what number of species 
j there are in that country. The tea-tree, how- 
! ever, is now common in the botanical gar- 
; dens in this country ; and it is evident that 
there are two species, or, at least, perma- 
nent varieties of it : one with a much longer 
i leaf than the other, which our gardeners call 
the green tea ; and the other witli shorter 
leaves, which they call the bohea. The green 
is by much the hardiest plant, and with very 
little protection will bear the rigour of our 
winters. Messrs. Loddridges, of Hackney, 
have now several large plants of it 'in the 
open ground, which they only cover with 
mats in hard frost. It is chiefly propagated 
in this country by layers. See Plate Nat. 
Hist. fig. 400. 
This plant delights in valleys, and is frequent 
on the sloping sides of mountains and the 
banks of rivers, where it enjoys a southern ex- 
posure. It flourishes in the northern lati- 
tudes of Pekin as well as round Canton ; but 
attains the greatest perfection, in the mild 
temperate regions of Nankin. It is said only 
to be found between the 30th and 45th de- 
gree of north latitude. In Japan it is planted 
found the borders of fields, without regard to 
the soil ; but as it is an important article of 
commerce with the Chinese, whole fields are 
«overed with it,, and it is by themcultivated with 
THEA. 
care. The abbh Rochen says, it grows 
equally well in a poor as in a rich soil ; but 
that there are certain places where it is of a 
better quality. The tea which grows in 
rocky ground is superior to that which grows 
in a" light soil ; and the worst kind is that 
which is produced in a clay soil. It is pro- 
pagated by seeds ; from six to twelve are putr 
into a hole about five inches deep, at certain 
distances from each other. The reason why 
so many seeds are sown in the same hole is 
said to be, that only a fifth part vegetate. 
Being thus sown, they grow without any oilier 
care,. Some, however, manure the land, and 
remove the weeds; for the Chinese areas 
fond of good .tea, and take as much pains to 
procure it of an excellent quality, as the Eu- 
ropeans do to procure excellent wine. 
The leaves are not fit for being plucked till 
the shrub is of three years’ growth. In seven 
Years it rises to a man’s height ; but as it then 
bears but few leaves, it is cut down to the 
stem, and this produces a new crop of fresh 
shoots the following summer, every one of 
which bears nearly as many leaves as a whole 
’ shrub. Sometimes the plants are not cut 
down till they are ten years old. Wcare in- 
formed by Kxmpfer, that there are three sea- 
sons in which the leaves are collected in the 
isles of Japan, from which the tea derives dif- 
ferent degrees of perfection. 
The first gathering commences at the end 
of February or beginning of March. The 
leaves are then small, tender, and unfolded, 
and not above three or four clays old : these 
are called ficki-tsiaa, or “ tea in powder,” 
because it is pulverised ; it is also called im- 
perial tea, being generally reserved for the 
court and people of rank ; and sometimes also 
it is named bloom tea. It is sold in China 
for 20d. or 2s. per pound. The labourers 
emplgved in collecting it do not pull the 
leaves ‘by handfuls, but pick them up one by 
one, and" take every precaution that they may 
not break them. However long and tedious 
this labomTnay appear, they gather from four 
to ten or fifteen pounds a day. 
The second crop is gathered about the end 
of March or beginning of April. At this sea- 
son part of their leaves have attained their 
full growth, and the rest are not above half 
their size. This difference does not, how- 
ever, prevent them from being all gathered 
indiscriminately. They are afterwards pick- 
ed and assorted into different parcels, accord- 
ing to their age and size. The youngest, 
which are carefully separated from the rest, 
are often sold for leaves of the first crops, or 
for imperial tea. Tea gathered at this season 
is called too-tsiaa, or “ Chinese tea,” because 
the people of Japan infuse it, and drink it af- 
ter the Chinese manner. 
The third crop is gathered in the end of 
May, or in the month of June. The leaves 
are then very numerous and thick, and have 
acquired their full growth. This kind of tea, 
which is called ben-tsiaa, is the coarsest of all, 
and is reserved for the common people. 
Some of the Japanese collect their tea only at 
two seasons of the year, which correspond to 
the second and third already mentioned: 
others confine themselves to one general ga- 
thering of their crop, tewards the month ot 
June:, however, they always form afterwards 
different assortments of their leaves. 
An infusion of tea is the common drink of 
m 
the Chinese ; and indeed, when we consider 
c*ne circumstance in their situation, we must 
acknowledge that Providence has displayed 
much goodness in scattering this plant with so 
much profusion in the empire of China. ’! he 
water is said to be unwholesome and nause- 
ous, and would therefore, perhaps, without 
some corrective, be unfit tor the purposes of 
life. The Chinese pour boiling w ater over 
their tea, and leave it to infuse, as we do in 
Europe ; but they drink it without any mix- 
ture, and even without sugar. r i he people of 
Japan reduce theirs to a fine powder, which 
they dilute with warm water until it has ac- 
quired the consistence of thin soup. Their 
manner of serving tea is as follows: They 
place before the company the tea-equipage, 
and the box in which this powder is contain- 
ed ; they fill the cups with warm water, and 
taking from the box as much powder as the 
point of a knife can contain, throw it into each 
of the cups, and stir it with a tooth-pick until 
the liquor begins to foam ; it is then pre- 
sented to the company, who sip it while it is 
warm. According to Du Halde, this me- 
thod is not peculiar to the Japanese ; it is also 
used in some of the provinces of China. 
The first European writer who mentions 
tea is Giovanni Botero, an eminent Italian au- 
thor, who published a treatise about the year 
1590, of the causes of the magnificence and 
greatness of cities. He does not indeed men- 
tion its name, but describes it in such a man- 
ner that it is impossible to mistake it. “ The 
Chinese (says he) have a herb out of which 
they press a delicate juice, which serves them 
for drink instead of wine; it also preserves 
their health, and frees them from all those 
evils which the immoderate use of wine pro- 
duces among us.” 
Tea was introduced into Europe in the 
year 1610 by the Dutch East India company. 
It is generally said, that it was first imported 
from Holland into England, in 1666, by the 
lords Arlington and Ossory, who brought it 
into fashion among people of quality. But 
it was used in coffee-houses before this period, 
as appears from an act of parliament made in 
1660, in which a duty of 8 d. was laid on every 
allon of the infusion sold in these places; 
n 1666 it was sold in London for 60s. per 
pound, though it did not cost more than 2s. 6 d: 
or 3s. &d. at Batavia. It continued at this 
price till 1707. In 1715 green tea began to 
be used ; and as great quantities were then 
imported, the price was lessened, and the 
practice of drinking tea descended to the 
lower ranks. In 1 720 the French began to 
send it to us by a clandestine commerce. 
Since that period the demand has been in- 
creasing yearly, and it has become almost a 
necessary of life in several parts of Europe, 
and among the lowest as well as the highest 
ranks : 
The- following table will give an idea of the 
quantity oftea imported annually into Great 
Britain and Ireland since 1717 : 
From 1717 to 172&. - 700,000 ft, 
1732 to 1742 - 1,200,000 
1755 near - - 4,000,000 
1766 - - 6,000,000 
1785 about - 12,000,000 
1794-from 16 to 20,000,000 ■ 
Besides' these immense quantities imported 
into Britain and Ireland, much ha& been 
brought to Europe by other stations, 
