I would not, however, lay too much stress upon the result of a few trials, nor endeavour to preclude further enquiries about a subject which at some future period may prove of more immediate concern to this nation. We might still try to discover whether other arts, than are yet known here, are not used with Tea before its exportation from China, to produce the difference of colour[45], and flavour[46], peculiar to different sorts. An intelligent friend of mine informs me, that in a set of Chinese drawings, in his possession, representing the whole process of manufacturing Tea, there are in one sheet the figures of several persons apparently separating the different kinds of Tea, and drying it in the sun, with several baskets landing near them filled with a very white substance, and in considerable quantity. To what use this may be applied is uncertain, as well as what the substance is; yet there is no doubt, he thinks, that it is used in the manufacturing of Tea, as the Chinese seldom bring any thing into their pieces but such as relate in some respect to the business before them. [Illustration: Olea Fragrans. _J. Miller del: et so:_] We are better acquainted with a vegetable substance which has been employed by the Asiatics in giving a flavour to Tea. This is the Olea Fragrans, whose flowers are frequently to be met with in Teas exported from China: and as the plant is now not unfrequent in the gardens near the metropolis, I am enabled to give an engraving of the plant and its botanical history[47]. OLEA FRAGRANS.--Sweet-scented Olive. _Class and Order._ DIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. _Generic Character._ _Cor._ 4. fida: laciniis subovatis. _Drupa_ monosperma. _Corol._ 4. cleft: segments somewhat ovate. _Drupe_, one-seeded. _Specific Character and Description from_ THUNBERG. OLEA _fragrans_ foliis lanceolatis serratis, pedunculis lateralibus aggregatis unifloris. _Thunb._ _Fl. Japon._ p. 18, t. 2. _Caulis_, arboreus vastus. _Rami_ et ramuli trichotomi, obsolete tetragoni, glabri. _Folia_ decussata, petiolata oblonga, acuta, serrata, margini subreflexo, parallelo-nervosa, reticulata, glabra, supra saturate viridia, subtus pallidiora, patentia, in ramulis frequentia, digitalia. _Petioli_ semiteretes, sulcati, glabri, semiunguiculares. _Flores_ in ramulis umbellato-aggregati, circiter 6 vel 8, pedunculati. _Pedunculi_ filiformes, uniflori, glabri, albidi, unguiculares. _Perianthium_, 1-Phyllum, minimum, obsolete 4-dentatum, albidum, glabrum. _Corolla_, 1-petala, rotata, flavo-alba; _Tubus_ subnullus; _Limbus_ patens, quadrifidus: laciniæ ovatæ, obtusæ, concavæ, crassiusculæ. _Filamenta_ duo, ori tubi inserta, alba, brevissima. _Antheræ_ ovatæ, grandiusculæ, didymæ, flavescentes. _Germen_ superum, oblongum, glabrum. _Stylus_ filiformis. _Stigmata_ simplicia, acuta.