Part 14

How long the use of tea has been known to the Chinese we are entirely ignorant; but we are informed that an infusion of the dried leaves of the tea shrub is now their common drink. They pour boiling water over them, and leave them to infuse, as we do in Europe; but they drink the tea thus made without either milk or sugar. The inhabitants of Japan reduce the leaves to a fine powder, which they dilute with water, until it acquires nearly the consistence of soup. The tea equipage is placed before the company, together with a box in which the powdered tea is contained: the cups are filled with warm water, and then as much of the powder is thrown into each cup as the point of a knife can contain, and it is stirred about until the liquor begins to foam, in which state it is presented to the company.

It was formerly imagined that black and green tea were the production of different species of shrubs; but the Chinese all assert, that both are produced from the same species, and that the sole difference which exists betwixt them arises from the seasons when the leaves are gathered, and the modes of curing them. The teas principally consumed in Europe are four kinds of black, and three of green.

_Black Teas._

(_a_) _Bohea_, or _Voo-yee_, so called from the country in which it is produced, is sometimes collected at four gatherings. As the leaves are picked, they are put into flat baskets, which are placed on shelves or planks, in the air or sun, from morning till night; after which they are thrown, by small quantities at a time, into a flat cast-iron pan, which is made very hot. They are twice stirred quick with the hand: then taken out, again put into the baskets, and rubbed between men's hands to roll them. After this they undergo another roasting in larger quantities, over a slower fire: and are then sometimes put into baskets over a charcoal fire. When the tea is, at last, sufficiently dried, it is spread on a table; and the leaves that are too large, and those that are unrolled, yellow, broken, or otherwise defective, are picked out, and the remainder is laid aside to be packed.

The best bohea tea is a small blackish leaf, is dusty, smells somewhat like burnt hay, and has a rough and somewhat harsh taste. The average annual importation of bohea into this country, in the ten years from 1791 to 1800, was 3,310,135 pounds.

(_b_) _Congo_, or _Cong-foo_, derived from a word which implies much care or trouble, is a superior kind of bohea, less dusty, and with larger leaves. These are gathered with peculiar care, and there is some little difference in the preparation of congo and bohea. The leaves of the latter, of souchong, hyson, and the fine single teas, are said to be beaten, with flat sticks or bamboos, after they have been withered by exposure to the sun or air, and have acquired toughness enough to keep them from breaking.

Of congo the annual average quantity imported in the above years amounted to 9,564,202 pounds.

(_c_) _Souchong_, from a Chinese word which signifies small good thing, is made from the leaves of trees three years old; and, where the soil is good, even of the leaves of older trees. Of true souchong very little is produced; what is sold to Europeans for this is only the finest kind of congo, and the congo usually purchased by them is but the best sort of bohea. Such is the delicacy of this tea that, upon a hill planted with tea-trees, there may only be a single tree, the leaves of which are good enough to be called souchong, and even of these, only the best and youngest are taken. The others make congos of different kinds, and bohea.

(_d_) _Pekoe_ is distinguished by having the small white flowers of the tree intermixed with it. This, which is chiefly consumed in Sweden and Denmark, is usually made from the tenderest leaves of trees three years old, gathered just after they have been in bloom, when the small leaves that grow between the first two that have appeared, and which altogether make a sprig, are white, and resemble young hair or down.

_Green Teas._

It has been asserted that green teas are indebted for their qualities and colour to a process of drying them upon plates of copper. This is certainly incorrect. The leaves for green tea are gathered, and immediately roasted, or _tached_, as it is called, upon cast-iron plates, and then are very much rubbed betwixt men's hands, to roll them. They are afterwards spread out and separated, as the leaves in rolling are apt to adhere to each other: and are again placed over the fire, and made very dry. After this they are picked, cleansed from dust, several times tached or roasted, and finally put hot into the chests in which they are to be packed.

The principal kinds of green tea are singlo, hyson, and gunpowder.

(_a_) _Singlo_, or _Song-lo_, is so named from the place where it is chiefly cultivated. Of this tea there are three or more sorts; but the leaves of the best are large, fine, flat, and clean. It is gathered at two seasons, the first in April, and the second in June. As we see it, the leaf is flattish, and yields, on infusion, a pale amber-coloured liquor.

(_b_) _Hyson_, or _Hee-chun_, has its name from that of an Indian merchant who first sold this tea to the Europeans. There are two gatherings of hyson. It should have a fine blooming appearance, be of a full-sized grain, very dry, and so crisp that, with slight pressure, it will crumble to dust. When infused in water the leaf should appear open, clear, and smooth, and should tinge the water a light green colour; the infusion ought to have an aromatic smell, and a strong pungent taste.

(_c_) _Gunpowder_ tea is a superior kind of hyson, gathered and dried with peculiar care. This tea should be chosen in round grains, somewhat resembling small shot, with a beautiful bloom upon it which will not bear the breath: it should have a greenish hue, and a fragrant pungent taste. Gunpowder tea is sometimes adulterated; an inferior kind being dyed and glazed in such manner as to resemble it; but, on infusion, this is found in every respect very inferior.

Tea, both black and green, is sometimes imported in balls from the weight of two ounces to the size of peas.

The dried leaves of the tea plant are a commodity which, a century and a half ago, were scarcely known as an article of trade. The earliest importation of tea into Europe is said to have been by a Dutch merchant in 1610; but the time of its first introduction into England has not been correctly ascertained. So scarce an article was it, for many years after the above period, that, in 1666, twenty-two pounds and three quarters of tea, estimated at fifty shillings a pound, were presented, as a valuable gift, to King Charles the Second. The first importation of tea by the East India Company was in 1669, and this consisted only of two canisters, weighing 143lb. 8oz. So rapidly, however, has the consumption of this article since increased, that, notwithstanding the immense distance from which it is brought, it now amounts to more than twenty millions of pounds' weight per annum. Such is, at present, the extent of the tea trade, that it affords constant employment for at least 50,000 tons of shipping, and 6,000 seamen; and its importance to us is the greater since it has been the means of opening, in China, a market for the sale of woollen goods, one of the most essential articles of our manufacture, to the amount of more than one million of pounds sterling per annum.

If good tea be taken in moderate quantity it is considered by medical men to be beneficial, by exhilarating the spirits and invigorating the system; but, when taken too copiously, it is apt to occasion weakness, tremor, and other bad symptoms.

The tea plant may be propagated in the temperate climates of Europe, as well as in the Indies; under the shelter of a south wall it will even flourish in our own gardens. It is, however, somewhat remarkable that the fresh leaves, if used for tea, produce giddiness and stupefaction; but these noxious properties are capable of being dissipated by the process of roasting.

In some of the southern parts of England there are smugglers who have reduced to a regular process the management of the leaves of the ash, the sloe, and some other trees, for the adulteration of tea. The article thus prepared has the name of _smouch_, and is sometimes mixed in the proportion of about one-third, with the ordinary teas. The preparation of it, however, if discovered, is subject to very heavy penalties.

175. _CLOVES are the unexpanded flower-buds of an East Indian tree_ (Caryophyllus aromaticus, Fig. 50), _somewhat resembling the laurel in its height, and in the shape of its leaves._

_The leaves are in pairs, oblong, large, spear-shaped, and of bright green colour. The flowers grow in clusters, which terminate the branches, and have the calyx divided into four small and pointed segments. The petals are small, rounded, and of bluish colour; and the seed is an oval berry._

In the Molucca islands, where the preparation of different spices was formerly carried on by the Dutch colonists to great extent, the culture of the clove-tree was a very important pursuit. It has even been asserted that, in order to secure a lucrative branch of commerce in this article to themselves, they destroyed all the trees growing in other islands, and confined the propagation of them to that of Ternate only. But it appears that, in 1770 and 1772, both clove and nutmeg trees were transplanted from the Moluccas into the islands of France and Bourbon; and, subsequently, into some of the colonies of South America, where they have since been cultivated with great success.

At a certain season of the year the clove-tree produces a vast profusion of flowers. When these have attained the length of about half an inch, the four points of the calyx being prominent, and having in the middle of them the leaves of the petals folded over each other, and forming a small head about the size of a pea, they are in a fit state to be gathered. This operation is performed betwixt the months of October and February, partly by the hand, partly by hooks, and partly by beating the trees with bamboos. The cloves are either received on cloths spread beneath the trees, or are suffered to fall on the ground, the herbage having previously been cut and swept for that purpose. They are subsequently dried by exposure for a while to the smoke of wood fires, and afterwards to the rays of the sun. When first gathered they are of reddish colour, but, by drying, they assume a deep brown cast.

This spice yields a very fragrant odour, and a bitterish, pungent, and warm taste. It is sometimes employed as a hot and stimulating medicine, but is more frequently used in culinary preparations. When fresh gathered, cloves will yield on pressure a fragrant, thick, and reddish oil; and, by distillation, a limpid essential oil. The latter is imported into Europe, but is frequently adulterated, and sometimes even to the amount of nearly half its weight. Oil of cloves is used by many persons, though very improperly, for curing the tooth-ache, since, from its pungent quality, it is apt to corrode the gums, and injure the adjacent teeth. When the tooth is carious, and will admit of it, a bruised clove is much to be preferred.

176. _LADANUM, or LABDANUM, is a resinous drug which exudes, and is collected, from the leaves and branches of a beautiful species of cistus_ (Cistus Creticus), _which grows in Syria and the Grecian islands._

_The height of this shrub seldom exceeds three or four feet. Its leaves, which stand in pairs on short foot-stalks, are oblong, wrinkled, rough, and clammy. The flowers appear in June and July, and consist of five large rounded petals of light purplish colour, each marked with a dark spot at the base._

The ancient mode of collecting ladanum, if the accounts which have been stated respecting it may be credited, was not a little curious. Goats, which delight in grazing upon the leaves and young branches of the shrubs that produce it, were turned loose into the plantation, and the resin that adhered to the long hair of their beards and thighs was afterwards detached by combing them.

The present method is different, and is a laborious and troublesome employment. Tournefort informs us that he saw seven or eight country fellows, in their shirts and drawers, and in the hottest part of the day, drawing over the shrubs a kind of whip, or rake, with numerous long straps or thongs of leather. From these they collected the resin, by scraping it off with a kind of knife; after which it was made into cakes of different sizes for sale. As loose sand generally adheres, in considerable quantity, to the viscous leaves of the shrub, it is not unusual for dealers in this drug to adulterate it with sand.

We import ladanum principally from the Levant and the Persian Gulf; and it comes to us in cakes or masses of different size, dark colour, and about the consistence of soft plaster; and also in rolls, lighter-coloured and much harder, which are twisted up so as somewhat to resemble the rolls of wax tapers.

The smell of ladanum is strong, but not disagreeable; and its taste is warm, aromatic, and somewhat unpleasant. This drug was formerly much used as an internal medicine; but it is now employed only externally, as an ingredient in plasters.

177. _The TULIP-TREE_ (Liriodendron tulipifera) _is an American production which yields a very beautiful and valuable kind of wood._

_It sometimes grows to the height of sixty or seventy feet; and has lobed leaves, and tulip-shaped flowers._

While young, the _wood_ of the tulip-tree is white; but at an advanced age, it assumes a fine yellow colour, or a streaked appearance of different shades of red. This wood is equally useful in ornamental furniture, and as a timber for building. It is occasionally employed in the construction of light vessels; and the trunks of tulip-trees are frequently hollowed by the Indians into canoes. When they have been grown in a favourable soil and climate, one of them is sufficiently large to be made into a canoe capable of containing several people.

On account of its quick growth and easy culture, this noble tree well deserves the attention of planters in our own country.

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CLASS XIV.--DIDYNAMIA.

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GYMNOSPERMIA.

178. _LAVENDER is a well-known perennial garden plant_ (Lavandula spica) _which grows wild in the south of Europe, and the flowers of which yield a grateful perfume._

Such is the fragrance of this delightful flower, and so easy is its culture, that we can now scarcely enter a garden in which it is not found. It will grow in almost any soil, but it flourishes most luxuriantly in clayey ground; and in situations whence, without inconvenience, it can be conveyed to the metropolis, it is a very valuable crop.

When cultivated to any extent, lavender should be planted in rows two or three feet apart, and the sets should be about two feet from each other. It is usually propagated from slips. During dry weather, in the month of July, the flowers should be gathered, by cutting off the heads close to the stem; after which they must be tied in bundles to be distilled.

When distilled with water, the _flowers_ of lavender, if in a mature state, yield an essential _oil_; generally in the proportion of about one ounce of oil to sixty ounces of flowers. This oil is of a bright yellow colour, and possesses the perfect fragrance of the lavender. But, if distilled with rectified spirit, the virtues are more completely extracted. From the leaves a very small proportion of oil can be obtained.

The preparations of this plant that are used in medicine are, the essential oil, a simple _spirit_, and a compound tincture. Lavender, however, is much more frequently and more extensively employed as a perfume than medicinally. The flowers are deposited in chests and wardrobes among linen, not only on account of their fragrant smell, but also from an opinion that their odour will prevent the depredations of moths and other insects. The perfume called _lavender water_ may be prepared by mixing three drachms of oil of lavender, and one drachm of essence of ambergris, with one pint of spirit of wine.

Lavender is supposed to have been first cultivated in England about the year 1558.

179. _COMMON or SPEAR-MINT_ (Mentha viridis), _one of our most frequent garden herbs, is a native British plant, and grows wild in watery places, and near the banks of rivers, in several parts of England._

The ancients ascribed many virtues to different kinds of mint, but it is not now possible to ascertain correctly the respective species, though there can be little doubt that spear-mint was one of the most important of them. Its flavour is to many persons peculiarly agreeable, and, on this account, it is employed for several culinary purposes, both in a green and dried state.

The _leaves_ are used in spring salads, are boiled with peas, and put into soup. In conjunction with vinegar and sugar they form a sauce for lamb; and prepared with sugar, they are made into a grateful conserve. Spear-mint is occasionally used in medicine, and the officinal preparations of it are the conserve, an essential oil, a simple distilled water, a spirit, and a tincture, or extract. In drying, the leaves lose about three-fourths of their weight, but without suffering much either in taste or smell.

180. _PEPPER MINT_ (Mentha piperita) _is a British plant, which grows in watery places, and is cultivated chiefly on account of an oil and distilled water which are prepared from it._

This is the strongest and most aromatic of all the mints; and, on this account, is more used in medicine than any other species. When distilled with water it yields a considerable quantity of essential oil, of pale greenish yellow colour. The well-known liquor called _pepper mint water_, prepared from this plant, is an excellent stomachic: but is too often used in cases of impaired appetite, and for the relief of various imaginary complaints.

ANGIOSPERMIA.

181. _The FOX-GLOVE_ (Digitalis purpurea) _is a stately British plant, with long, erect spikes of large, purple, and somewhat bell-shaped flowers, marked internally with dark spots in whitish rings, and containing four stamens, with large yellow anthers._

_The calyx, or flower-cup, has five pointed divisions. The extremity of the blossom is divided into five segments; and the seed-vessel is egg-shaped, and contains many seeds. The leaves are large, wrinkled, and somewhat downy beneath._

The gravelly or sandy hedge-banks or hills of all the midland counties of England are adorned, in the later months of summer, with this, one of the most beautiful, most dangerous, and yet, if properly applied, one of the most useful of all our wild plants. For its medicinal virtues it has long been esteemed. The Italians have an adage which implies that "the fox-glove heals all sores:" hence it is said, that they apply the bruised leaves, and the juice of the leaves, in the healing of different kinds of wounds, and particularly for the removal of scrophulous swellings.

The _juice_ of this plant has a bitter and nauseous taste; and, when taken internally, acts violently on the stomach and bowels, and brings on stupor and drowsiness; notwithstanding which, in careful hands, it may be rendered a valuable medicine in dropsy, consumption, and epilepsy. It is given in powder, tincture, and infusion of the dried leaves; and such is its strength, that Dr. Woodville states, the dose of the dried leaves, in powder, should not exceed from one to three grains per day.

182. _The CALABASH-TREE_ (Crescentia cujeta) _is a production of the West Indies and America, about the height and dimensions if an apple-tree, with crooked horizontal branches, wedge-shaped leaves, pale white flowers on the trunk and branches, and a roundish fruit, from two inches to a foot in diameter._

The uses to which the _fruit_ of the calabash tree is applied are very numerous. Being covered with a greenish yellow skin, which encloses a thin, hard, and almost woody shell, it is employed for various kinds of domestic vessels, such as water cans, goblets, and cups of almost every shape and description. So hard and close-grained is the calabash, that, when it contains any kind of fluid, it may even be put on the fire without injury. When intended for ornamental purposes, the vessels that are made of the shell of this fruit are sometimes highly polished, and have figures engraven upon them, which are variously tinged with indigo and other colours. The Indians make musical instruments with the calabash.

The calabash contains a pale, yellow, juicy _pulp_, of unpleasant taste, which is esteemed a valuable remedy in several disorders, both external and internal.

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CLASS XV.--TETRADYNAMIA.

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SILICULOSA.

183. _SEA KALE_ (Crambe maritima) _is a well-known plant in our kitchen-gardens, the early shoots of which are blanched, and eaten in the same manner as asparagus._

This plant grows wild on sandy sea-coasts in various parts of England; and has been transplanted thence into the gardens. The mode of management is, in the autumn, to place large inverted garden-pots over the plants, and to cover the whole bed and the pots with dung and litter. The heat of the fermenting dung causes the plants to shoot early in the spring; and the pots protect them and keep them clear of the litter. By this means also, as they have no access to the light, they become blanched, tender, and of extremely sweet and delicate flavour.

Sea kale is ready for use some time before asparagus appears; and, for the table, it is preferred by most persons to that favourite vegetable. If the leaves of sea kale be eaten when full grown, they are said to occasion giddiness; but horses, cows, swine, and other animals, feed upon them without injury.

184. _WOAD is a dyeing drug, produced by a British plant_ (Isatis tinctoria), _with arrow-shaped leaves on the stem, yellow cruciform flowers, and oblong seed-vessels, each containing one seed._

This plant is believed to have been the same that was adopted by the ancient Britons for staining, or painting their bodies a blue colour, to render them, in appearance, at least, more terrible to their enemies. It grows wild on the borders of corn-fields, in some parts of Cambridgeshire, Somersetshire, and Durham: and is cultivated in several of the clothing districts of England.

As soon as the plants are in a sufficient state of maturity, they are gathered. The leaves are picked off, and submitted to the action of mills, somewhat similar to the mills that are used for the grinding of oak-bark. In these they are reduced to a pulp. The woad is then laid in small heaps, which are closely and smoothly pressed down. After continuing about a fortnight in this state, the heaps are broken up, and their substance is formed into balls, which are exposed to the sun to be dried. When the balls are perfectly dry, they are ready for use; and are employed, not only in dyeing blue, but also as the basis of several other colours.

185. _HORSE-RADISH_ (Cochlearia armoracia) _is a well-known kitchen-garden plant, which grows wild by the sides of ditches and the banks of rivers, in several parts of the north of England._

The _root_ of horse-radish is much used for culinary purposes. It is remarkable for great pungency both of smell and taste. When scraped, it is mixed with pickles to heighten their flavour, and is eaten with roast beef, fish, and several other kinds of food. Whenever more of the roots are dug out of the earth at once than are immediately wanted, they may be preserved for some time, in a juicy state, by putting them into dry sand.