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DRINKS.

2,49

salutaris,

npmlne

Chia,

calidu^

hauritur,

ut

apud

Japonios

:

Cujus

maxime

beneficio,

pituitam,

grave'

dinem,

lippitudinem

nesciunt

;

vitam

bene

longam,

sine

ullo

ferme

languore

traducunt,

oleis

alicubi

carent."

"

Although

they

do

not

extract

wine from

the

vines

as

we

do,

but

have

a

custom

of

preserving

the

grapes

as

a

kind

of

condiment

for

the

winter,

they

yet

press

oCit

of

a

certain

herb,

a

liquor

which

is

very

healthy

which

is

called

Chia,

and

they

drink

it

hot,

as

do

the

Japanese.

And

the

use

of

this

causes

them

not

to

know

the

meaning

of

phlegm,

heaviness

of

the

head,

or

running

of

the

eyes,

but they

live

a

long

and

happy

life,

without

pain,

or

infirmity

of

any

sort."

Another

early

mention

of

it

is

in

a

book

by

Giovanni

Botero,^

which

was

translated

into

English

by

Robert

Peterson,

"

of

Lincolne's

Inne,

Gent."

He

says

(p-

75

"

They

haue

also

an

herbe,

out

of

which

they

presse

a

delicate

iuyce,

which

serues

them

for

drincke

instead

of

wyne.

It

also

preserues

their

health,

and

frees

them

from

all

those

euills,

that

the

immoderat

vse

of

wyne

doth

breed

vnto

us."

Early

in

the

seventeenth

century

tea

was

becoming

known

in

Europe,

mainly

through

the

instrumentality

of

the

Dutch

East

India

Company,

and

we

learn

much

about

it

in

the

y/ritings

of

Father

Alexandre

de

Rhodes,

who,

after

thirty-five

years'

travel,

gave

the

benefit

of

his

experiences

to

the

public.

He

left

Rome

in

October,

1618,

and

thus

writes

about

"

De

I'Vsage

du

Tay,

qui

^

Delle

Cause

della

gfandezza

delle

Citta,

etc.,

del

Giovanni

Botero.

MilanOy

ed.

1596,

p.

61.