It may not be improper to observe here, that many exotic vegetables, like human constitutions, require a certain period before they become naturalized to a change of climate; many plants, which on their first introduction would not bear our winters without shelter, now endure our hardest frosts; the beautiful magnolia, among several others, is a proof of this observation; and we have already taken notice (SECT. V.), that the degree of cold at Pekin sometimes exceeds ours. We have hence reason to expect, that the Tea-tree may in a few years be capable of bearing our climate, or at least that of our colonies; at length thrive, as if indigenous to the soil; and, were labour cheaper, become an article of export[73], like the common potatoe, for which we are indebted to America, or Spain[74]. It is, however, better suited for the climates of the Southern parts of Europe, and America; but hitherto it has not been cultivated in an extensive manner, in either of these quarters of the world; nor is it likely ever to be, whilst it can be procured from Asia at the present reduced price. It was introduced into Georgia about the year 1770. Hence the ingenious author of Ouabi (Mrs. Morton) in her recent poem of Beave-hill, in describing the products of this province, introduces the exotic of China: “Yet round these shores prolific plenty twines, Stores the thick field, and swells the cluttering vines; A thousand groves their glossy leaves unfold, Where the rich orange rolls its ruddy gold, _China’s green shrub_, divine Magnolia’s bloom, With mingling odours fling their high perfume.” It is indeed probable that the North American summers, in the same latitude with Pekin, would suit this Tree better than ours; for, in China and some parts of North America, the heat in summer is such, that vegetables make quicker and more early shoots, whereby they have time to acquire sufficient strength and firmness before the winter commences: but, in England, the tender shoots are puttied forth late, and, winter soon after succeeding, they often perish, in a degree of cold much less severe than at Pekin, or in colder latitudes of North America. THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF TEA. PART II. SECTION I. As the custom of drinking Tea is become general, every person may be considered as a judge of its effects, at least so far as it concerns his own health; but, as the constitutions of mankind are various, the effects of this infusion must be different also, which is the reason that so many opinions have prevailed upon the subject.