TEA

The dried leaves of the tea tree, of which there are two varieties. 1. The IViea nigra; black or bohea tea. 2. Thea virid is; green tea. The boheas include souchong, pekoe, and congou; and the greens are hyson, singlo, and imperial or bloom tea. The leaves are collected and dried on iron plates by a gentle heat. Tea taken in moderation, especially as we use the infusion, with sugar and milk, is strengthening and invigorating; it also appears to po e certain stimulating and narcotic properties, of which some individuals are peculiarly susceptible, and which renders it improper in hypochondriacal and hysterical patients. We know little of the chemical properties of the varieties of tea; but the following table shows that, in regard to its more obvious constituents, the difTerent varieties are not widely di imilar. The column showing the weight of the precipitate by jelly may be taken as indicating the relative proportion of the astringent matter. 100 Parts of Tea. Soluble in Water. Soluble in Alcohol. Precipitate with Jelly. Inert Residue. Green: hyson - J 4«. per lb. — 12*. — — 10*. _ _ 8*. — — 7*. — Black: souchong, 12*. — — 10*. — 8*. — 7*. — — 6*. _ 41 34 7,6.'56.11 35 34 3I 35 44 43 43 42 41 36 37 35 35 31 31 29 26 25 24 It 28 24 23 56 57 57 58 59 64 i 64 65 Of the above precipitate by jelly, about 40 per cent, may be regarded as tannin; and the difference between the second and the first column shows the quantity of resin contained in the above teas: the resin has an agreeable flavour of the tea. Water distilled off tea has an agreeable flavour, and is said to be narcotic: it contains a trace of volatile oil. Oudry's statement of the existence of a peculiar principle in tea (t/iein) requires confirmation. The late rise and present magnitude of the British tea trade are among the most extraordinary phenomena in the history of commerce. Tea was wholly unknown to the (Jreeks and Romans, and even to our ancestors, previously to the end of the IGth or the beginning of the 17th century. It seems to have been originally imported in small quantities by the Dutch; but was hardly known in this country till after 16.50. In 1660, however, it began to be used m coffee houses; for, in an act pa ed in that year, a duty of 8rf. is laid on every gallon of " coffee, chocolate, sherbet, and tea," made and sold. But it is abun• evident that it was then only beginning to be inid. The following entry appears in the Diary of |iys, secretary to the Admiralty: — " September 26. I sent for a cup of tea (a China drink), of which I had never drunk before." In 16G4, the East India Com1216 TEAK WOOD. pany bought 2 lbs. 2 oz. of tea as a present for his Majesty. In 1C67, they i ued the first order to import tea, directed to their agent at Bantam, to the effect that he should send home 100 lbs. of the best tea he could get! (See the references in Milburne's Orient. Com. vol. ii. p. -530.; Macpherson's Hist, of Com. with India, pp. 130—132.) Since then the consumption seems to have gone on regularly, though slowly, increasing. In 1689, instead of charging a duty on the decoction made from the leaves, an excise duty of 5s. per lb. was laid on the tea itself. The great increase that took place in the consumption of duty paid on tea in 1784 and 1785, over its consumption in the prieceding years, is to be ascribed to the reduction that was then effected in the duties. In the nine years preceding 1780, above 180,000,000 lbs. of tea were exported from China to Europe in ships belonging to the Continent, and about.50,000,000 lbs. in ships belonging to England. But, from the best information attainable, it appears that the real consumption was almost exactly the reverse of the quantities imported; and that while the consumption of the British dominions amounted to above 13,000,000 lbs., the consumption of the Continent did not exceed 5,500,000 lbs. If this statement be nearly correct, it follows that an annual supply of above 8.000,0C0 lbs. was clandestinely imported. It was well known, indeed, that smuggling was carried on to an enormous extent; and after every other means of checking it had been tried to no purpose, Mr. Pitt proposed, in 1784, to reduce the duties from 119 to 121 per cent. This measure was signally succe ful. Smuggling and the practice of adulteration were immediately put an end to, anfl the legal imports of tea were about trebled. In 1795, however, the duty was raised to 25 per cent; and after succe ive augmentations in 1797, 1800, and 1803, it was raised, in 1806, to 96 per cent, ad valorem, at which it continued till 1819, when it was raised to 100 per cent, on all teas that brought above 25. per lb. at the Company's sales. Down to the 22d of April, 1834, the duty on tea was an ad valorem one, being 96 per cent, on all teas sold under 2s. a pound, and 100 per cent, on all that were sold at or above 25. Seeing that tea may now be considered almost as a nece ary of life, this was certainly a high duty; though, as a large amount of revenue must be raised, we do not know that it could be fairly objected to on that ground. But under the monopoly system the duty was, in fact, about 200 per cent, ad valorem! For, the price of the tea sold by the Company being forced up to nearly double what it would have been had the trade been free, it followed, inasmuch as the duty varied directly as the price, that it also was doubled when the latter was doubled. The price of congou at Hamburgh, for example, varies from Is. 2d. to \s.Ad. per lb.; and had the Company supplied our markets with congou at the same rate, it would have cost us, duty included, from 25. Id. to 25. 8rf. per lb. But instead of this, the congou sold by the Company has been, at an average, a good deal above 2*. per lb.; and the duty being as much, it has invariably cost us from 45. to 55. per lb. Hence, though the duty was only 100 per cent, on the Company's price, it was really above 200 per cent, on the price of tea in an open market! The mischief of the monopoly was thus aggravated almost beyond endurance, inasmuch as every addition made by it to the cost of the article made an equal addition to the duty on it. But this system is now happily at an end. The ad valor em duties ceased on the 22d of April, 1834; and all tea imported into the United Kingdom for home consumption is now charged with a customs duty as follows: — Bohea - - - - - I5. M. per lb. Congou, twankay, hyson skin, orange pekoe, and campo i - - - 2s. 2d. — Souchong, flowery pekoe, hyson, young hyson, gunpowder, imperial, and other teas not enumerated - - 3s. Od. — We subjoin an account of the quantities of tea entered for home consumption in the United Kingdom in 1840 and 1841, with the gro amount of duty received on the same: — Quantities. Revenue. Hi*. h. 1840 - 32,262,892 3,473,964 1841 - 36,396,078 3,978,198 TEAK WOOD, or [s. 1229]