Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-11-27
Tea and Dyspepsia.
An East India Tea-grower in Philadelphia Pre-

Press,
The word pure" as applied to teas from
Japan and China appears to be as necessary to
their sale as the omission of the same word is
to Indian teas. from the simple fact that tea can
only be teas If it is not tea ergo 1t is some
thing else. and should be sold under another
name me cause need not be ought for as it
is SIMPLY due to the simplicity of too conffda
ing public The middleman and retail dealer
nnite III 1ull force and the sapient housewife
VINO would nStanter reject ''oeomargarine'' or
''butterine" for butter, will most meeklv accent
mixture OF willow or other leaves, highly faced
with copperas. indigo, or Prussian blue as pure
green tea and this when infusion and slight
knowledge OF the tea-leaf would frequently
place all in position to test the purity for them
selves. Further check is at hand in a sediment
presenting an appearance like its adulterant
from most countries complaints are frequent
that pure tea is unprOcurable at any price
Still. pure tea is manufactured, but how much of
IL reaches the consumer Of China and japan
teas as such is question. By the time it has
passed from to the bush to the factprys thence
to mld1leman and grocer. and aaaflsehltOrtha
cup or the cOnfiding drnker, it's original iden-
tity would puzzle its manufacturer to determine
Its class, certainly as regards Indian teas, whose
Irequet "mXings" and transformations often
destroy all trace OF their origin. The adultera-
tion OF teas has been dilated upon ad Hauseam,
our further attempt by one whose experience
has awakened his interest may not now be amiss
In a country where dysyeptic aud nervous
complaints are so common their import is en-
nanced by the fact that to impure tea can be
traced the germs OF many such malades, though
popular delusiOn ascribes them to more remote
causes. From two distinguished professors
we Eaye the following statement on the uses
and properties OF tea: ('MedicinaI Plants byi
Profs. Bentley and Timen.) '.The principal use
OF tea is to form an agreeable slightly stimulat-
ing soothing and refreshing beverage" ETC..
and further, 1T was formerly believed that tea
from the theme it contained had the effect of
diminishing the waste of the body and as any
substance that does this necessarily saves food,
1t was regarded as indirectly nutritiye" Con-
trary opinions are advanced by equally reliable
authority, tending to show that tea, by acting
as respiratory eXctant, is conducive to
bodily waste, and both opinions are open to
credence. From the gluta.i cont aimed in tea its
Vaiue as a nutrtive is also prominently adj
vanced. while as nerviEe stimulant tea NAV be
taken with effect In cases of headache, neural
gla or ether affections segment upon the effects
OF exhaustion or the depression of nervine
power Its effects are said to be similar to those
OF quinla in cases of intermittent feyers, asthma.
Whooping cough CT other spasmodic complaints
but these attributes essentially refer to tea and
not to any other fabrication under it's name
Tea has It's vOtaries, bat it also has its enemies
who ascribe the increase in nervous diseases to
the constant and increasing use of tea; but in
designations may tend to show that this
Is due, not to the tea itself, but to the poison
Gus adulterants with which it is compounded.
NO class OF men in India drink tea more per-
slstently than do planters themselves, yet no
nervous or dyspeptic diseases predominant
amongst Indian planters as class. But, then
they only drink tea, and no planter, or even his
coolie, would uhmixed drink teas such as those
OF the class known as "Oolong" and certainly
not OF that known and openly sold as ''coored"
Planters are usually very careful as to the teas
they use. and will select from the lower class
teas known as ''Souchong." or sometimes from a
class locally known as ''Red Leaf" the latter
being almOs the refuse. This is from no penuri-
Gus economy, as every planter Is permitted to
drink all the tea he requires and in most fac
tories also yearly to supply few pounds to his
friends Few planters will drink tea which has
been recently manufactured, and generally make
during each seasonal supply of what is termed
drinking tea, which. by special fermentation.
becomes drinkable months before teas of or(li-
nary commercial manufacture could be imbibed
with comfort The nearest approach to the
class OF teas KIN own as 'Ooong' is the species
technicallytermed" Namoonah" (Hindoostanee)
In the Indian tea districts an unfermerted
| ''panned' tea. Its value as a mixing agent
with weaker China teas is great and its price
nigh, but as its production is more expensive
the results are frequently predetermined and It
IS only in solitary cases that it is manufactured.
No planter would drink this tea from choice. az
1t would simply elbow his head of" or unnerye
him completely, and yet it is fact that teas of
this description are the most sought after as a
beverage In the United States by rich admirers
OF "Ooongs," "Gunpowder," ;fCaper." etc Per-
sonal experiments recently made have convinced
the writer that these teas when drank alone
are positively nauseous and that little goes q
long way. Here, then, is case where to the
use OF pure tea may be laid o series Of dyspeptic
and nervous disorders