238 
which is then made palatable with wine or the juices of fruits. The dried Dschin- 
schan can also be cut into small pieces and thrown into hot soup, where, in the 
space of a minute, it dissolves, and thus resembles transparent Macaroni. 
We have enlarged upon this subject because latterly much has been said about 
the Carraghean , which is nothing else than the dried Sphcerococcus crispus , 
which is found in large quantities on the western and northern shores of England, 
and which, doubtless, possesses the same qualities as the Sphcerococcus cartilagi- 
neus, var. cetaceus. We can, however, by no means imagine that the jelly ob¬ 
tained from it possesses any other but a highly nutritive quality, which is, at the 
same time, not at all oppressive to the digestive organs.—Meyen, in Wieg- 
mann’s Archiv. 
Paraguay Tea. —Rengger, in his Travels in Paraguay , confirms the 
statement of Aug. St. Hilaire, that the Tea of Paragua and the Paraguay Tea are 
the produce of one and the same plant. The differences of taste are caused by 
the modes of preparation and preservation. The plant which produces it is the 
Ilex Paraguariensis of St. Hilaire ; it resembles the Pomegranate tree in form 
and in the shape of its leaves, yet, when full grown, it is considerably larger and 
thicker. The elliptical leaves are directed upwards, and its small white blossoms 
hang in bunches. The smaller twigs are cut off and baked over a slow fire, and 
then broken up by stamping, that the tea may be more closely compressed; it is 
then packed in square leathern bags, which are called zurrones or tercios , and 
containing eight arrobas. The finest kind of Paraguay Tea consists exclusively 
of the leaves of the tree, which, after being roasted, are coarsely pounded in a 
wooden mortar, and is called Caa mini. The common sort, which, besides the 
leaves, contains also the smaller twigs, is called hierha de palos ; and there are 
several surreptitious or mixed kinds. This tea, which is usually called hierha in 
Spanish, must be only coarsely powdered, else it loses both smell and taste, and 
the mouth, in drinking it, is filled with the dust. Nor must it be over-roasted, 
on account of the resin it contains ; and the dealers have a ready test for this by 
taking a little in their hands and slightly blowing it, when, if the greater quantity 
flies off, they condemn it. This tea loses its flavour in a couple of years, even if 
the tercios be compressed as hard as stones, but where exposed to the air this natu¬ 
rally takes place much earlier. When it becomes old and strong it can only be 
used as a colouring matter for dying black tints. This hierha , or tea, passed cur¬ 
rent formerly in Paraguay as money, and its commerce consequently was but a 
system of barter. 
The a communis. —The discovery of the tea plant in Upper Assam promises 
to become of considerable importance to British commerce. That it was cultivated 
in Ava, the Birman Empire, as well as the eastern frontiers of Thibet, has been 
