/ 
ORCHID  TEA. 
443 
at  the  time  of  making,  that  it  can  be  reserved  for  a  future  occa- 
sion if  requisite,  and  may  either  be  taken  cold  or  made  hot 
again.  Milk,  or  spirits  in  small  quantities,  especially  rum,  serve 
to  develope  its  aroma,  and,  lending  it  additional  delicacy  or 
greater  strength,  render  it  a  delicious  drink.  Lastly,  this  valua- 
ble plant  is  made  use  of  to  flavor  custards  and  ices,  to  which  it 
communicates  its  delicate  fragrance. 
"  To  be  taken  as  a  warm  beverage,  the  leaves  and  stalks 
should  be  placed  in  cold  water,  in  about  the  proportion  of  one 
gramme  to  a  tea-cup,  more  or  less,  as  the  consumer  may  desire 
it  of  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  of  strength.  The  water  should 
be  immediately  made  to  boil  for  about  the  space  of  ten  minutes 
in  the  tea-kettle  or  other  closed  vessel.  It  should  then  be  emptied 
into  the  teapot  or  tea-cups  and  sweetened  accordingly." 
A  sample  of  this  new  kind  of  tea  has  recently  been  received 
at  the  Kew  Museum  ;  it  was  packed  in  a  very  neat  canister- 
shaped  box,  similar  to  those  now  sold  in  Paris.  These  boxes 
are  of  two  sizes,  the  smaller  containing  material  sufficient  for 
making  fifty  cups  of  Faham,  and  sold  at  2f.  50c,  and  the  larger 
one  hundred  and  fifty  cups,  and  sold  at  5f,  Upon  opening  the 
box  in  question  the  perfume  emitted  was  exceedingly  powerful, 
and  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Tonquin  bean.*  The  leaves,  un- 
like those  of  tea,  appear  simply  dried,  not  shrivelled  by  heat, 
but  are  as  flat  as  we  should  find  them  in  any  herbarium.  The 
absence  of  any  artificial  coloring  matter,  or  roasting,  accounts 
for  the  very  light  color  of  the  infusion. 
No  doubt  there  are  many  persons  who  would  prefer  the  fra- 
grance of  this  article  to  the  aroma  of  Chinese  tea,  but  for  my 
part  I  give  preference  to  the  latter — perhaps  prejudice  may  have 
something  to  do  with  it.  The  perfume  from  the  teapot  is  cer- 
tainly very  agreeable,  and  is  an  undoubted  novelty  ;  and  if  Fa- 
*  [The  leaves  of  Liatris  odoratissima,  on  being  dried,  possess  a 
strong  odor  of  Tonka  bean,  and  contain  coumarin,  which  crystallizes 
on  the  surface.  It  is  used  for  keeping  clothes  from  moths  in  North  Caro- 
lina. Our  attention  has  been  recently  recalled  to  this  plant  by  Mr. 
Walker  Meares,  of  Wilmington,  N.  C,  who  calls  it  the  Vanilla  plant.  Its 
odor  lacks  the  delicacy  of  Yanilla,  but  will  no  doubt  make  "  Faliam," 
and  might  be  tried  by  our  North  Carolina  correspondent. — Editor  Am. 
Jour.  Pharm.] 
