tchick ( t silent)

[See def.] 2. An exclamation of surprise or of contempt. Tchû dî ( t silent), s. [Ru .) A name given by the Ru ians to the Finnic races in the northwest of Ru ia. It is now more generally applied to des ignate the group of peoples of which the Finns, the Esthonians, the Livonians, and the Lap landers are members. Tçhu-dic (tsilent), a. [TCHUDI.] Of or pertaining to the Tchudi; spec if., designating that group of Turanian tongues spoken by the Finns, Esthonians, Livonians, and Lap landers. T'-cloth, subst . [See def.] A plain cotton cloth manufactured in Europe for the Indian and Chinese market, and so called for having a T stamped on it. tea, *tee, *cha, *chau, s. [Chinese té , ch'a, ts'a; Fr. thé ; Ger. thee ; Ital. cia ; Malay téh . Formerly pronounced tay ; Pope used it to rhyme with obey ( Rape of the Lock , iii. 7), away ( Ib . i. 62), and stay ( Ba et Table , 27), though in the last-named poem (112) he makes it rhyme with decree . 1. Chem . & Comm.: The prepared leaves of Thea sinensis , an evergreen closely allied to the Camellia family. The leaves are gathered four times during the year, the tea prepared from the first or spring gathering being the most delicate in color and flavor. Formerly it was supposed that black and green teas were prepared from the leaves of different plants, but it is now known that both varieties are obtained from the same plant, the differences depending on the mode of preparation. In preparing green teas the leaves are gently heated in drying-pans, to render them soft and flaccid, then rolled by the hand on a wooden table, this operation being repeated several times as quickly as po ible, to prevent fermentation and preserve the green color. The leaves intended for black tea are placed in heaps to undergo fermentation. At the end of three or four hours they are to ed about and beaten by the hand until they become soft. They are next heated in an iron pan, and rolled into balls by the hand, this operation being repeated several times; lastly, the leaves are slowly dried over a charcoal fire. The two great cla es of tea, green and black, are each subdivided into a variety of kinds, known in commerce by particular names. Thus, in green teas there are Gunpowder, Hyson, Young Hyson, Imperial, Twankay, .; and in black teas, Congou, Kaisow, Moning, Souchong, A am, . The most important, soluble organic substances existing in tea are an alkaloid theine (q. v.), an e ential oil present in very small quantity, and to which the peculiar aroma of the tea is said to be due, and tan nic acid. Green tea contains on an average 26 per cent of tannic acid, black tea about 15 per cent. Tea must not be regarded as a nutrient in the sense of supplying material to build up wasted ti ue, or to generate heat, but it is chiefly prized on account of its refreshing and stimulating properties, and its power of engendering activity of thought, and driving away sleep. Taken in exce it is apt to produce giddine and nervous ne . Of late years anxtensive fraud has been practiced upon the tea-drinking public by the Chinese. Exhausted leaves-that is, leaves which have already been infused-were taken and treated with iron filings, which had the effect of restoring to them their dark color. These were then dried, prepared in the usual way, and packed for export, but, though they looked all right, it was clear that such teas were neither useful nor wholesome. Both Great Britain and the United States have for years taken special precautions against the importation of adulterated teas; Canada has done likewise. 2. Hist .: Tea was used in China from early times, and is mentioned as a common beverage in that country by Soliman, an Arabian merchant, who an account of his travels thither about A. D. 850. The first mention of it by a European was by Bolero in 1590. About 1610 the Dutch first brought it to England. The imposition by the Home Government of a duty on tea imported into America led to the destruction of many boxes of it in Boston and New York, and was one of the causes that brought on the American War of In depend IMG:content-0855.png:[blocks in formation] marine; gō, põt, tea-cloth tea-cloth, subst. A cloth used in washing up tea things. tea-cup, s. A small cup to drink tea from. A storm in a tea - cup : A great disturbance about a trifling matter; much ado about nothing. "The 'échauff ourée' in 'Southern Bulgaria' will prove a mere storm in a tea-cup." -London Daily Telegraph . tea-cupful, s. As much as a tea-cup will hold.