_Johannes Albertus von Mandelslo_, and _Leyl_, also call it an Herb: But _Trigautius_ and _Rhodius_ pronounce it a Kind of Copse, or small Shrub. If, therefore, we are swayed in our Judgment by the Plurality of Voices, we must infallibly conclude _Tea_ to be an Herb. But as, in all Cases, one Eye-Witness is better than ten who take Things upon Report; and as the two last-mentioned Authors travelled through the _East-Indies_, it is more reasonable to trust to their Descriptions, than to those of the others, who, being no professed Botanists, were, in some measure, misled by botanical Authors, who too often confound Words, as we have shewn in the Dissertation on _Tobacco_: However, to reconcile these Differences, we say, that _Tea_ may be defined and described, either as an Herb, or as a Kind of Copse, or small Shrub; for as Geographers, in their Descriptions of _Nova Zembla_, and the _Terra Australis incognita_, make Conjectures about some Things which they never saw, because they were never there; so, why may not I, though I never was in _Asia_, make an Attempt to delineate an _Asiatic_ Plant, which is the Herb, or Shrub, _Tea_, in order to prevent that excessive Import of it, which corrupts our Regimen, and impairs our Health no less than the _Tobacco_ sent us from _America_? Now, though _Asia_ furnishes the _Chinese_ with _Tea_, as a salutary Medicine, yet she obtrudes it upon us, at the same Time we are ignorant what it is; for which Reason I shall describe _Tea_, both as an Herb, and as a Kind of Copse, or small Shrub. "_Tea_, therefore, as an Herb, has oblong Leaves, acuminated, crenated about the Edges, and about an Inch long, and half an Inch broad. In _China_ these Leaves are of a dark green Colour, and of a bitter Taste; whereas those produced in _Japan_, are of a fainter Green, and more grateful Taste, tinging any Liquor with the same Colour. These Leaves, when dried, become black, and shrivelled up, like small Worms, and the Herb has a fibrous Root, divided into many small Shreds." If any should tell me, that this seems to be a Description of _Betony_, I answer, so it is; and I would rather perswade the _Europeans_ to use this Herb, possessed of numberless known Virtues, than to persist in the Use of the unknown _Tea_ of the _Chinese_, purchased at a great Expence, and calculated for impoverishing Families. It is indeed certain, that, as the moderate Use of it, without producing a preter-natural Heat, conforts and dries the Brain, and whole nervous System, so the immoderate Use of it, cannot fail to be equally noxious to the _Europeans_ as the Abuse of _Wine_. _Tea_, as a Kind of Copse, or small Shrub, may be described in the following Manner: "_Tea_ is a small Shrub, greatly resembling the _Myrtle_-Bush, with dark green Leaves, as large as those of the _Pomegranate_, but with small Incisions about the Edges, like those observable in the Leaves of the _Daisy_. These Leaves are carefully