Table of Contents Table of Contents
Previous Page  131 / 244 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 131 / 244 Next Page
Page Background

Tea.

131

used

to

scent

Soucliong

teas.

Green

teas,

as

Twankay,

Hyson,

and

Gunpowder

(the

finest

con-

sists

of

the

unopened

leaf-bud

of

the

green

variety

of

the

Thea

)

.

Cowslip

Hyson

is

flavoured

by

mixing

with

it

the

berries

of

Chlomnthus,

or

by

alternate

layers

of tea

and

dried

cowslip

flowers,

and

then

sifted.

Black

tea

has

more

sedative,

green

more

stimulating,

properties.

The

use

of

tea

and

coffee

(says

Liebig)

is

not a

matter

of

mere

habit,

but

it

is

in

some

degree

essential,

it

being

a

ques-

tion

if

Ave

had

neither

tea

nor

coffee,

Avhether

the

popular

instinct

would

not

soon

crave

for,

and

find

some

substitute.”

Raynal

observes,

The

use

of

tea

has

contributed

more

to

the

sobriety

of

the

Chinese

than

the

severest

laws,

the

most

eloquent

discourses,

or

the

best

treatise

on

morality.”

Its

social

properties

no

one

understood

better

than

Cowper,

who

thus

eulogizes

a

comfortable

evening

at

home

:

Now

stir

tlie

fire,

and

close

the

shutters

fast,

Let

fall

the

curtains,

wheel

the

sofa

round,

And

while

the

bubbling

and

loud-hissing

urn

Throws

up

a

steamy

column,

and

the

cups

That

cheer

but not

inebriate

wait

on

each

So

let

us

welcome

peaceful

evening

in.

A

Chinese

legend

relates,

that

a

pious

hermit,

who,

in his

Avatchings

and

prayers,

had

often

been

K

2