Everything should be clean, the water fresh and the tea drawn at a specific heat, to insure which requires a brisk fire or gas heat, and different treatment according to the season of the year. Care should be taken that the water boils, it being much better to let it boil for a few minutes than use it under the boiling point. In winter the vessel should be made hot and the leaves heated in it before the water is poured on, for about a minute, while in summer the tea-pot need not be heated or the water poured on while boiling, but should be allowed to cease for a few seconds, more or less, according to the heat of the day. It is also a needless operation to pour a small quantity of water on the tea for a preliminary drawing, as is frequently done. Always fill the tea-pot, or pour in at once the quantity required, but for the more temperate seasons a modification of these methods may be adopted. The longest time that any tea should be allowed to steep is from five to ten minutes. As soon as it has been steeped this length of time, at the outside, it should be served. Even if it is allowed to remain on the stove a few minutes after this time it will be ruined. The character of the water used greatly influences the liquor and flavor of the tea. Soft water should always be used when available, it being next to impossible to make good tea with hard water. Excess of lime in the water also deteriorates the infusion, the last difficulty may, however, be remedied by the judicious use of carbonate of soda, as much as would cover the face of a dime being sufficient for an ordinary drawing of tea. Tea being an extremely delicate and sensitive article, it should be protected from all foul and foreign flavors, its susceptibility to the odors of other articles being a source of danger and deterioration, as it readily absorbs the smell of coffee, cocoa, spices, meats, fish and other commodities of pronounced flavor. Even when securely packed in the lead-lined chests in which it is received from the producing countries, the change from the glowing heat of Eastern skies to our atmosphere deprives it of much of its pleasing fragrance. For this reason the complaints so frequently made would not arise if always kept in places free from contagion or stored in a dry, warm temperature and not exposed to atmospheric influences. BEVERAGES PREPARED FROM TEA.