[Illustration: SORTING TEA IN CHINA. _Frontispiece._] TEA AND TEA DRINKING. [Illustration] BY ARTHUR READE, AUTHOR OF "STUDY AND STIMULANTS" London: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 1884. [_All rights reserved._] LONDON: PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Introduction of Tea 1 CHAPTER II. The Cultivation of Tea 18 CHAPTER III. Tea-Meetings 32 CHAPTER IV. How to make Tea 49 CHAPTER V. Tea and Physical Endurance 66 CHAPTER VI. Tea as a Stimulant 79 CHAPTER VII. The Friends and the Foes of Tea 105 CHAPTER VIII. Tea as a Source of Revenue 134 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Sorting Tea in China _Frontispiece_ A Tea Plantation 25 Watering a Tea Plantation 41 Gathering Tea-Leaves 57 Pressing Tea-Leaves 73 Pressing Bags of Tea 89 Drying Tea-Leaves 108 Sifting Tea 125 Tea-Tasting in China 137 PREFACE. The question of the influence of tea, as well as that of alcohol and tobacco, has occupied the attention of the author for some time. Apart from its physiological aspect, the subject of tea-drinking is extremely interesting; and in the following pages an attempt has been made to describe its introduction into England, to review the evidence of its friends and foes, and to discuss its influence on mind and health. An account is also given of the origin of tea-meetings, and of the methods of making tea in various countries. Although the book does not claim to be a complete history of tea, yet a very wide range of authors has been consulted to furnish the numerous details which illustrate the usages, the benefits, and the evils (real or imaginary) which surround the habit of tea-drinking. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION OF TEA. Introduced by the East India Company--Mrs. Pepys making her first cup of tea--Virtues of tea--Thomas Garway's advertisement--Waller's birthday ode--Tea a rarity in country homes--Introduced into the Quaker School--Extension of tea-drinking--The social tea-table a national delight--England the largest consumer of tea.