16*2 
TEA TREE. 
in one day upwards of one hundred chests of tea, 
only by smelling at them forcibly, in order to 
distinguish their respective qualities, was the next 
day seized with a violent giddiness, head-ache, uni- 
versal spasms, and loss of speech and memory. By 
proper assistance the symptoms abated, but he did 
not recover. For though his speech returned, and 
his memory in some degree, yet he continued, with 
unequal steps, gradually losing strength, till a para- 
lysis ensued, then a more general one, and at length 
he died. Whether this was owing to the effluvia 
of the tea may perhaps be doubted. Future acci- 
dents may possibly confirm the suspicions to be just, 
or otherwise. 
“ An assistant to a tea-broker had frequently for 
some weeks complained of pain and giddiness of 
his head, after examining and mixing different 
kinds of tea. The giddiness was sometimes so con- 
siderable, as to render it necessary for a person to 
attend him, in order to prevent any injury he might 
suffer from falling or other accident. He was bled 
in the arm freely, but without permanent relief; his 
complaint returned as soon as he was exposed to his 
usual employment. At length he was advised to 
be electrified, and the shocks were directed to his 
head. The next day his pain was diminished, but 
the day after closed the tragical scene. I saw him 
a few hours before he died ; he was insensible ; the 
use of his limbs almost lost, and he sunk very sud- 
denly into a fatal apoplexy. Whether the effluvia 
