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Method of Preparing Teas: Pekoe

The Pekoe is a particular kind of tea-shrub, the leaves of which are all black on the one side, and all white on the other. As the real Pekoe tea is very scarce and dear, the Chinese adulterate it, by mixing with it some of the small half-grown leaves, as yet white, which grow on the top of the common Bohea tea. This changes the quality of the Pekoe, for these leaves being scarcely formed, can have very little sap or flavour.

Green Teas. Green teas do not grow in the same place as the Bohea tea. They are brought from the province of Nankin, and are distinguished into three sorts. The first is known under the name of songlo tea, but oftener under that of green toukay; the second is called bing tea; and the third hayssuen tea, or hyson. There are also some other kinds, but the greater part of them are unknown, or of little importance to foreigners.

The songlo and hayssuen teas come from the same shrub; their only difference is in the manner of their being prepared. Bing tea grows on a different shrub, the leaves of which are thicker and larger than those of other kinds. All teas ought to have a green leaden tint: the older they are, the leaves become more yellow, which is a very great fault. They ought also te have a burnt or scorched smell, not too strong, but agreeable; for when they have been long kept, they have a filthy smell, somewhat like that of pilchards. The French wish to find in green teas, and particularly in songlo and imperial, an odour similar to that of soap. In these several kinds of tea, there is a particular distinction to be made, as they are generally classed into one, two, or three kinds, according to the periods at which they were gathered.

ANTIQUITY OF SUGAR. - From the few remains of the Grecian and Roman authors which have survived the ravages of time, we can find no proof that the juice of the sugar-cane was known at a very early period. There can be no doubt, however, that in those countries where it was indigenous, its value was not long concealed. It is not improbable that it was known to the ancient Jews; for there is some reason to suppose, that the Hebrew word, which occurs frequently in the Old Testament, and which is by our translators rendered sometimes calamus, and sometimes sweet-cane, does in fact mean the sugar-cane. The sugar-cane was first made known to the western parts of the world, by the conquest of Alexander the Great. Strabo relates, that Nearchus's admiral found it in the East Indies, A. C. 325. It is evidently alluded to in a fragment of Theophrastus, preserved in Photius. Varro, who lived A. C. 68. describes it in a fragment quoted by Isidorus, as a fluid pressed from reeds of a large size, which was sweeter than honey. Dioscorides, about A. C. 35, says, "that there is a kind of honey called saccharon, which is found in India and Arabia Felix. It has the appearance of salt, and is brittle when chewed. If dissolved in water, it is beneficial to the bowels and stomach, is useful in diseases of the bladder and kidneys, and, when sprinkled on the eye, removes those substances that obscure the sight." This is the first account we have of its medicinal qualities. Galen often prescribed it as a medicine. Lucan relates, that an Oriental nation in alliance with Pompey used the juice of the cane as a common drink. Pliny says it was produced in Arabia and India, but that the best came from the latter country. It is also mentioned by Arrian, in his Petiplus of the Red Sea, by the name of Σaχaρ (sachar) as an article of commerce from India to the Red Sea. Ælian, Tertullian, and Alexander Aphrodisæus, mention it as a species of honey procured from canes.

CURIOUS EFFECTS OF CINCHONA, or PERUVIAN BARK.- An account has been published in the Journal de Pharmacie, for May 1819, of some curious effects produced by Peruviar