Part 2

TABLE A.

Average number of Average Average number of Year-Periods. pounds of Tea annual pounds of Tea consumed consumed per annum. Population. per head per annum. 1801-10 23,717,882 16,794,000 1·41 1811-20 24,753,808 19,316,700 1·28 1821-30 28,612,702 22,433,900 1·27 1831-40 34,441,766 25,257,200 1·36 1841-50 44,286,600 27,566,300 1·61 1851-60 65,160,456 28,172,400 2·31 1861-70 97,775,548 30,027,600 3·26 1871-80 144,462,622 33,055,020 4·37 1881-90 178,130,836 36,178,144 4·92 1891-1900 224,076,800 39,440,316 5·70 1901-03 255,270,472 41,550,773 6·10

Since the beginning of the last century therefore the average consumption per head has increased from 1·4 to 6·1 pounds. In our Australian and New Zealand Colonies the quantity consumed is even much larger than in the United Kingdom as will be seen from the table below:--

TABLE B.

Average number of pounds of Tea consumed per head per annum. New South Wales 8·01 Victoria 7·38 South Australia (except N. Territory) 8·87 South Australia (North Territory) 6·44 Western Australia 10·07 Queensland 7·09 Tasmania 6·62 All Australia 7·81 New Zealand 6·78

The enormous quantity of tea consumed in Great Britain and our Colonies will be better appreciated if comparisons are made with other Countries:--

TABLE C.

Average number of pounds of Tea consumed per head per annum. Russia 0·93 Germany 0·12 Holland 1·48 France 0·06 United States 1·09 Canada 4·64

I should like to say a few words concerning the sources of tea supply to the United Kingdom. Of course until fairly recent times practically all the tea came from China. Early in the last century it was found that the tea plant was indigenous to India. In 1825 the Society of Arts offered their gold medal “to the person who shall grow and prepare the greatest quantity of China tea, of good quality, not being less than 20 pounds weight” in the East Indies and British Colonies. In 1832 Dr. Wallick made a report on the cultivation of tea in India and said “that under a well-directed management the tea plant may at no distant period be made an object of extensive cultivation in the Honourable East India Company’s Dominions.” Several years afterwards in 1839 the Society of Arts Medal was awarded to Mr. C. A. Bruce “for discovering the indigenous tea tracts and successfully cultivating and preparing tea in the British possessions in India.” In 1840 the first Indian Tea Company was formed, in 1853 tea was growing in Cachar, in 1856 in Sylhet, and in 1864 in Darjeeling and other places. Much more recently Ceylon has become prominent in supplying this country with tea. It came about in this way; the coffee plantations were destroyed by disease in 1868 and the planters succeeded in growing cinchona and tea as alternative crops. This experimental growth of tea in Ceylon has now become a flourishing industry.

The following table shows in five year periods since 1866, the proportion of each 100 pounds of tea imported into the United Kingdom from India, Ceylon, China and other countries respectively:

TABLE D.

Five Year Other Periods. India. Ceylon. China. Countries. 1866-70 6·62 0·00 91·44 1·94 1871-75 10·50 0·08 85·62 3·80 1876-80 18·26 0·06 80·18 1·50 1881-85 26·73 0·86 70·71 1·71 1886-90 39·66 10·96 47·07 2·32 1891-95 47·10 29·30 21·04 2·56 1896-1900 50·25 36·30 10·52 2·93 1901-03 58·45 33·28 4·74 3·53

It appears that China which formerly supplied 90 per cent. in 1866, now contributes less than 5 per cent. of our tea. During the same period the Indian supply has gone up from 6 to 58 per cent., and Ceylon which only commenced to send tea in 1875 now sends the substantial proportion of 33 per cent. of the total importation.

From the above tables it will be seen that of the yearly average of six pounds consumed in the United Kingdom, one third of a pound comes from China, three and a half pounds from India, and two pounds from Ceylon. The Dutch the next largest tea-drinkers to the British consume a pound and a half each person per annum, half of this comes from Java and the remaining half from the United Kingdom (principally of Chinese origin). Most of the tea drunk in Russia comes from China. In Australia two-thirds of the tea is imported from India and Ceylon, and the rest comes from China. In the United States more than half the tea comes from China and the bulk of the remainder from Japan.

I now proceed to deal briefly with the constituents of tea which are generally believed to impart to the tea infusion its special characters.

Alkaloid. The alkaloid which is present in tea to the extent of 3 or 4 per cent. is thought to be identical with that found in Coffee, viz: caffeine. It has the well-known stimulant and invigorating qualities with which the taking of tea is associated. Thus the brain is stimulated, the intellect becomes clear; there is removal of languor and fatigue with increased wakefulness and alertness. The following is by a Chinese writer, who lived over 1,000 years ago and he writes so well, and so much to the point, that we must not quarrel with him if he has omitted to give us the reverse aspect of the question.

It tempers the spirits, and harmonises the mind, Dispels lassitude, and relieves fatigue, Awakens thought, and prevents drowsiness, Lightens or refreshes the body, and clears the perceptive faculties.

We shall also forgive Cowper’s strong prepossession in favour of tea when we call to mind the cosy, comfortable picture which he describes:

And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn, Throws up a steamy column, and the cups That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each So let us welcome peaceful evening in.

I suppose that this verse has been as much quoted as anything in our language, and the homely picture of the evening meal has done much to wean the English people from stronger drinks.

The following article from the Lancet of 1863 presents all the arguments, and very important arguments they are and very well stated which can be placed to the credit of tea-drinking:--

“It has a strange influence over mood--a strange power of changing the look of things, and changing it for the better: so that we can believe and hope, and do under the influence of tea, what we should otherwise give up in discouragement and despair,--feelings under the influence of which tissues wear rapidly. In the language of the poor, who in London we are told spend one-eight of their income in buying tea, it produces a feeling of comfort. Neither the philosopher nor the philanthropist will despise this property of tea, this power of conferring comfort, or removing ennui, of promoting those happier feelings of our nature under which we can do most and bear most. There is no denying the considerable dependence of our moods and frames upon substances; and as moods are as important as muscles, as they affect as largely a man’s ability for the great ends of life, we cannot regard the cheapening of such substances, when devoid of noxious qualities, as other than a most important benefit to the poor.”

This feeling of comfort, this power of changing the aspect of affairs, of appealing to the happier side of our nature, in other words of putting us at our best, is undoubtedly due to the alkaloid of tea. Since I have been interested in the subject I have conversed with a number of friends, and many have told me that the best time of day to do any writing or intellectual work is after a cup of tea in the afternoon, and I must confess to feeling more myself at this time than at any other; but, on the other hand if no afternoon tea is taken, this period of the day is when most people feel fagged and tired and incapable of mental exertion. This shews the great influence exercised by tea over our moods and feelings; and if tea is taken in moderation this property may be of great help and a mental stimulus to us in our daily vocation.

Tannin.--The other important constituent of tea, viz.: tannin is present to the extent of 10 or 20 per cent. and it is this substance to which most of the injurious effects of tea have been attributed. In excess tannin tends to depress the action of the digestive fluids and ferments. It interferes with the normal activity of secretion by constricting the blood vessels and diminishing the circulation, and lastly it tends to combine with the nitrogenous principles of the food rendering them insoluble and incapable of digestion. The tendency therefore of this substance is greatly to impair digestion and it gives rise to palpitation of the heart, headache, flatulence, loss of appetite, constipation and other symptoms so well-known at the out-patient departments of our general hospitals; on inquiry it is often found that the patient is accustomed to drink large quantities of tea, which has stood for long periods and consequently extracted excessive amounts of tannin.

In addition to the alkaloid and tannin the older writers asserted that tea contained a volatile oil to the extent of 0·6 to 1 per cent., and many of the qualities and deleterious effects of tea have been traced to the presence of this substance. The latest experiments, however throw some doubts on these early results. Thus in the report of Schimmel & Co. for April, 1897, it is stated (p. 39) that “in former years we endeavoured on several occasions to distil various kinds of tea in order to introduce tea oil ... we have, however, in no case succeeded in obtaining more than mere traces of oil,” and they conclude that in the hands of the early experimenters the oil found on distillation was due to the artificial flavouring of tea which was common at that time. Schimmel & Co. in their Report for April, 1898 (p. 50) refer to a report of the Botanical Gardens in Buitenzorg for 1896. It appears that experiments were made on a large scale, thus 2500 kilograms of freshly fermented tea leaves were submitted to steam distillation and 130 cubic centimetres or 0·0052 per cent. of oil was obtained. It must be remembered that this oil was only found in freshly fermented leaves and from the minute quantity I think we may conclude that tea oil if present has little or no connection with the qualities and attributes of tea, or the deleterious effects to which it may give rise.

A word or two with reference to the adulteration of tea. In former times a good many samples and especially of green tea were faced; this consisted in the addition of some colouring matter as Prussian blue, turmeric, or indigo; and sometimes black tea was faced with graphite. Another practice formerly prevalent was the addition of various leaves having a resemblance to tea leaves; and then there was the use of exhausted or spent leaves. All these forms of adulteration are now happily very seldom practiced. To shew the extreme rarity of tea adulteration in this country, in the 17 years from 1887 to 1903, 7595 samples were purchased under the Food and Drugs Acts and of these only 23 were found to be adulterated. These figures include 15 cases in 1898, and according to the report of the Local Government Board for this year many were of the description known as caper tea. This is one of the China varieties and consists of small granular masses made up by the aid of gum and starch, and this lends itself to the addition of sand and stones as actually happened in the cases in question. I think that with this exception of mineral matter, tea adulteration in this country may now be said to be practically non-existant.

We have glanced through the general effects of the important constituents of tea. I now propose to consider the amount of harm which can be justly attributed to this popular article of daily consumption.

The opposition to tea on the ground of injury to health is almost as old as the introduction of tea itself. One of the earliest objectors was Dr. Simon Pauli, the Physician to the King of Denmark, in a commentary he wrote on the abuse of tobacco and tea. He objected on the ground that “tea is moderately heating, bitter, drying and astringent.” He felt it incumbent on him to warn Europeans against the abuse of tea, especially as the herb he said by no means answered the encomiums bestowed upon it by the Chinese and Japanese. “I wish all persons especially such as are old would obstinately reject tea, which so dries the bodies of the Chinese that they can hardly spit.” Pauli was also a strong opponent of Coffee and alleged that it produced “sterility.”