To these may be appended the determinations of Paraguay tea at 28 and the ordinary tea of commerce at 5.92 per cent.; while in Peligot’s analysis the average proportions of ash in true tea-leaves is given as follows:— Kind of Leaf. Per cent. of Ash. China Tea, 5.5 Japan “ 5.5 Java “ 5.3 India “ 6.06 Ceylon “ 6.06 Proving, as has been mentioned, that genuine tea-leaves as brought direct from the producing countries, or such as is a fair commercial article, does not yield less than 5, or sensibly more than 6 per cent. of ash on incineration. When the ash much exceeds 6 per cent. the first question to be considered is whether it is accidental or if the high yield of ash would be maintained if a larger quantity of the sample were incinerated. The composition of the ash of genuine tea-leaves has also been carefully studied, yielding on analysis the following constituents:— Constituents. Per cent. Soda, 0.65 Lime, 4.24 Potash, 39.22 Silica, 4.35 Chlorine, 0.81 Magnesia, 6.47 Oxide of iron, 4.38 Carbonic acid, 24.30 Sulphuric acid, A trace Phosphoric acid, 14.55 Protoxide of manganese, 1.63 —————— Total, 100.00 This analysis is especially important, inasmuch as the tea which furnished the ash was of guaranteed purity, so that no question of the possibility of its sophistication could arise. On examining this analysis it will be observed that tea-ash contains a quantity of iron, also some manganese, the presence of manganese being so marked in tea-ash that on subsequent treatment of the ash with water a deep-green solution of manganate is obtained. Owing to this presence of manganese in tea-ash it also invariably evolves chlorine very perceptibly when it is treated with hydrochloric acid.