VARIETIES. 
175 
The tea is brought to Canton unprepared. After its arrival it is first 
subjected to cleaning. Women and children are employed to pick out the 
pieces of twigs, seeds, and other impurities with which it happens to be 
intermixed. The only sorts which may be called natural are those gathered 
at different seasons: the rest are prepared by artificial means. Without 
entering into a description of all these processes, it may suffice to take one 
as an example. A quantity of Bohea Saushung was thrown into a spher- 
ical iron pan kept hot by means of a fire beneath. These leaves were con- 
stantly stirred about until they became thoroughly heated, when the dyes 
above mentioned were added, viz : to about twenty pounds of tea, one 
spoonful of gypsum, one of turmeric, and two or even three of Prussian 
blue. The leaves instantly changed into a bluish-green, and, having been 
stirred for a few minutes, were taken out. They, of course, had shrivelled 
and assumed different shapes from the heat. The different kinds were 
produced by sifting. The small longish leaves fell through the first sieve 
and formed Young Hyson, while those which had a roundish granular shape 
fell through last, and constituted Choo-cha, or gunpowder. — Hooker's Jour, 
of Botany in Pharm. Journ. 
On the Jipijapa, or Panama Hat Plant. By M. Berthold Seemann. — An 
indigenous production deserving special notice is the Jipijapa (Carludovica 
palmata, R. et Pav.,) a palm-like plant, of whose unexpanded leaves the 
far-famed "Panama hats" are plaited. This species of Carludovica is dis- 
tinguished from all others by being terrestrial, never climbing, and bearing 
fan-shaped leaves. The leaves are from six to fourteen feet high, and their 
lamina about four fe2t across. The spatha appears towards the end of the 
dry season, in February and March. In the Isthmus, the plant is called 
Portorico, and also Jipijapa, but the latter appellation is most common, and 
is diffused all along the coast as far as Peru and Chili; while in Ecuador a 
whole district derives its name from it. The Jipijapa is common in Panama 
and Darien, especially in half-shady places ; but its geographical range is 
by no means confined to them. It is found all along the western shores of 
New Granada and Ecuador ; and I have noticed it even at Salango, where, 
however, it seems to reach its most southern limit, thus extending over 
twelve degrees of latitude, from the tenth N. to the second S. The Jipija- 
pa, or Panama hats, are principally manufactured in Veraguas and Western 
Panama; not all, however, known in commerce by that name are plaited 
in the Isthmus; by far the greater portion is made in Manta, Monte 
Christi, and other parts of Ecuador. The hats are worn almost in the 
whole American continent and the West Indies, and would probably be 
equally used in Europe, did not their high price, varying from two to 150 
dollars, prevent their importation. They are distinguished from all others 
by consisting only of a single piece, and by their lightness and flexibility. 
They may be rolled up and put into the pocket without injury. In the 
rainy season they are apt to get black, but by washing them with soap and 
