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Show 930 TEA TREE. TEA TREE. cording to Du Halde, this methodis also used in some provinces E of China. it for some boil tea, coarser a have who , people The common arly in drink. common for liquor the use and time in water, the morning, the kettle filled with water is hung over the fire, and the tea is either put in enclosed in a bag, or by means of a basket pressed to the bottomof thevessel. The coarsest tea only is used in this manner, the qualities of which being more fixed, would probably not be so fully extracted by infusion. 23) wee and of which we have a remarkable proof in the operation of opium, we shall not be surprised at the different operations of tea. It is not at the same time to be denied, that green tea may sometimes have good effects. It is very possible, that in certain persons, taken in moderate quantities, it may, like other nar. cotics, prove exhilarating, or, like them, have some effect in taking off irritability, or in quieting some irregularities of the nervous system. As its bad effects* have been often imputed to the warmwater VIRTUBS. Tea is indeed the common beverage of all the labouring people in China; and they are scarcely ever represented at work of any kind, but the tea-pot and tea-cup appear as their accompaniments: reapers, threshers, and all who work out of doors, as * Cullen, Mat. Med. vol. ii. 309. Woodville, vol. iv. 120. See Lettsom, p. 59, to the end.—The latter physician has scared the credulous respecting tea by the following very frightful narrative :— “ An eminenttea-broker”’ (Mr. Nash he means), “ after having examined often show their powers in affecting the nerves of the stomach, inone 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 giddiness, head-ache, universal 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 paralysis ensued, then a more general one, and at length he died. Whether this was owing to effluvia of the tea may, perhaps, be doubted. Future accidents maypossibly confirm the suspicion to be just, or otherwise.” Dr. Lettsom then relates: “ An assistant to a tea-broker had frequently, forsome weeks, complained ofpain and giddiness of his head after examining and mixing different kinds of tea. The giddiness was sometimes so considerable as to render it necessary for a person to attend him, in orderto prevent any injury he might suffer fromfalling, 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 throughhis head. The next day his pain was diminished, but the day after closed the tragical and indeed of the whole system. scene. well as within, have these attendants *. With respect to the qualities of tea, it appears that an infusion of green tea has the effect of raising the sensibility of the nerves, and the irritability of the muscles; and that it gives out in distillation an odorous water, which is powerfully narcotic. That the recent plant contains such an odorous narcotic power, we might presume from the necessity which the Chinese find of drying it with much heat before it can be brought into use; and that even after such preparation they must abstain from the use of it for a year or more, that is, till its volatile parts arestill further dissipated : and it is said, that unless they use this precaution, the tea in a more recent state manifestly shows strong narcotic powers. Even in this country the more odorous teas From these considerations it mayfairly be concluded, that tea is to be considered as a narcotic and active substance ; and that it is especially such in its most odorous state, and therefore less in the bohea than in the green tea, and the most so in the finer kinds of thelatter. Its effects however seem to be very different in different persons; and hence the contradictory accounts that are given of them. But if we consider the difference of constitution, which occasions some variation in the operating of the same medicine, * Leitsom; p. 48. Isaw him a fewhours before he died; he was insensible; the use of his limbs almost lost, and he sunk very suddenly into a fatal apoplexy. Whetherthe effluvia of the tea, or electricity, was the cause of this event is doubtful, In either view the case is w orthy of attention.” Anxious to ascertain this point as far as possible (for my grandmother, Mrs, Winstanley, at the age of near one hundred, was in the habit of taking very strong green tea, and would not allow any bad effects from tea, often being told it was a slow poison, of which slowne proof), Lenqnired of a gentleman who is smelJer e was a tolerably good and taster to the st India Compa ny of the teas at Canton, from whomI obtained the following information, “ My pEAR Sir London, Sept. T, 1808. “Thad the pleasure to receive yourletter of the 5th instant, and it al“ays will afford me much satisfaction to beofthe least service to you. Yon |