170. _CAPERS are the unopened flower-buds of a low shrub_ (Capparis
spinosa, Fig. 48), _which grows from the crevices of rocks and walls, and
among rubbish, in the southern parts of France, in Italy, and the
Levant._
_The stems of the caper bush are trailing, and two or three feet in
length. The leaves are alternate, of somewhat oval shape, veined, and of
bright green colour: and the flowers are large and beautiful, with four
petals, and white with a tinge of red._
In the south of France, the caper bush is as common as the bramble is with
us. It grows wild upon the walls of Rome, Sienna, and Florence; and when
trained against a wall, it flourishes even in the neighbourhood of Paris:
notwithstanding which it is almost unknown in English gardens, where it
cannot be made to flower without the aid of artificial heat. This shrub is
cultivated on a large scale, between Marseilles and Toulon, and in many
parts of Italy.
In the early part of the summer it begins to flower, and the flowers
continue successively to appear till the commencement of winter. The buds
are picked, every morning, before the petals are expanded: and, as they are
gathered, they are put into vinegar and salt. When a sufficient quantity is
collected, they are distributed, according to their size, into different
vessels, again put into vinegar, and then packed up for sale and
exportation. This pickle is much used in sauce for boiled mutton. To
persons unaccustomed to it, the taste of capers is unpleasant; but, after a
little while, the palate becomes reconciled to it.
The bark of the _root_ cut into slices, and dried in small rolls or quills
like cinnamon, is sometimes used in medicine in cases of obstruction of the
liver.
The flower-buds of the marsh marygold (_Caltha palustris_), and of
nasturtiums, are frequently pickled and eaten as a substitute for capers.
171. _The WHITE POPPY_ (Papaver somniferum) _is a naturalized English
plant, with smooth calyx and seed-vessels, and with leaves embracing the
stem, which grows wild in neglected gardens, and some corn-fields, and to
which we are indebted for two important medicines_, opium _and_ laudanum.
Although the white poppy has long been naturalized in this country, it is
supposed that we were originally indebted for it to some of the northern
parts of Asia. Throughout nearly the whole of that quarter of the world it
is cultivated with great attention, on account of the _opium_ which is
obtained from it. Opium is the dried juice of the seed-vessels, and is thus
procured:--After the petals have fallen off, and the seed-vessels are about
half grown, the latter are wounded on one side, with an instrument having
four or five teeth, the gashes being made about an inch in length. A
glutinous, milky fluid exudes from the wounds: this is carefully scraped
off, on the ensuing day, by a person who, in similar manner, wounds the
opposite side of the head; the juice issuing from which is afterwards
similarly collected. The whole is then put into earthen vessels, where it
is worked by the hand, in the open sunshine, until it attains sufficient
consistence to be formed into balls, cakes, or loaves; after which it is
covered over with poppy or tobacco leaves, and further dried, till it is in
a proper state for exportation.
_Opium_ is of reddish brown colour, inclining to black; and has a strong
and very peculiar smell. It is adulterated in various ways; by an extract
of the plant, obtained by boiling; by a powder of the dried leaves and
stalks, mixed with some kind of gum; by rice flour, and by other substances
not quite so agreeable as these.
The cultivation of opium is so extensively pursued in the East Indies that
nearly 600,000 pounds' weight of it are annually exported from the Ganges.
But there is no necessity for us to import, at a great expense from abroad,
that which might be advantageously prepared in our own country. It is true
that the seed-vessels of the white poppy do not attain so large size in
this as in warmer climates; but the opium procured from it is of
sufficiently excellent quality. From the seed-vessels of a single plant
more than forty grains of this drug have been obtained; and, under very
disadvantageous circumstances of weather, upwards of twenty-one pounds'
weight have been procured from plants grown upon five acres of land. It has
been calculated that, in favourable seasons, the produce of a single acre
ought to be near fifty pounds. It is recommended that the seed be sown in
autumn rather than in spring. When the seed-vessels have attained a
sufficient state of maturity, they may be wounded, and the opium may be
collected by children from eight to twelve years of age. The only proper
time for collecting it is in the morning, and seven children and two men
have been able to collect 1½ pound in one morning, betwixt five and nine
o'clock. The best mode of reducing the opium to a proper consistence
appears to be to spread it thinly in shallow dishes, and expose it, under
glasses, to the rays of the sun.
We possess few medicines so valuable as this. It is used as a powerful
antidote, but chiefly as a remedy for procuring sleep and mitigating pain,
which it does in a very remarkable manner. In the latter respects, however,
it is too often abused; and, if taken in large doses, it proves a deadly
poison. But so much are the effects of opium diminished by the habit of
taking it, that, although four grains have, in some instances, proved fatal
to grown persons, fifty times that quantity have been taken daily by
others. The bad effects of too great a dose are best counteracted by making
the patient drink freely of acids and coffee, and not permitting him to
yield to the desire of sleeping, with which he is oppressed. The habitual
use of opium, which is much indulged in by the Asiatics, is attended with
the same bad effects as the habit of drinking ardent spirits: it brings on
tremors, palsy, stupidity, and general emaciation; and, when once acquired,
it can scarcely ever be relinquished.
Possessing the above properties, it is remarkable that opium, combined in a
certain proportion with vegetable acids, instead of inducing, will prevent
sleep. In consequence of which it has often, though injuriously, been used
by persons who are obliged to devote their nights to sedentary or active
pursuits. It is likewise deserving of remark, that the _seeds_ of the poppy
have none of the narcotic qualities of the opium. They are mild, sweet, and
nutritive; and yield, by pressure, an oil little inferior to that of
almonds. So numerous are these seeds that more than 30,000 have been
counted from a single seed-vessel.
_Laudanum_ is a liquid preparation from opium and spirit of wine; and is
used for most of the same purposes to which opium is applied. Its effects,
as a poison, may be counteracted in the same manner as those of opium.
172. _ARNATTO, or ANNOTTA, is a red dyeing drug, generally imported in
lumps wrapped up in leaves, and produced from the pulp of the
seed-vessels of a shrub_ (Bixa orellana) _which grows spontaneously in
the East and West Indies._
_This shrub is usually seven or eight feet high, and has heart-shaped and
pointed leaves. The flowers, which have each ten large peach-coloured
petals, appear in loose clusters at the ends of the branches, and produce
oblong and somewhat hairy pods._
The seed-vessels of the arnatto shrub are, in appearance, somewhat like
those of the chesnut (235). They each contain from thirty to forty seeds,
enveloped in a kind of pulp (of red colour and unpleasant smell), which is
not much unlike the paint called red lead, when mixed with oil. In the West
Indies the method of extracting the pulp, and preparing it for sale, is to
boil it, and the seeds which are mixed with it, in clear water, until the
latter are perfectly extricated. They are then taken out, and the pulp is
allowed to subside to the bottom of the water; this is drawn off, and the
sediment is distributed into shallow vessels, and gradually dried in the
shade until it is sufficiently hard to be worked into lumps or masses for
sale.
Arnatto, though made in the West Indies, is an object of no great
commercial importance; the demand for it not being sufficient to give much
encouragement to its culture. It is now chiefly prepared by the Spaniards
in South America, and for the purpose principally of mixing with chocolate,
to which, in their opinion, it gives a pleasing colour and great medicinal
virtue, as well as an improved flavour. The chief consumption of arnatto in
England depends upon painters and dyers; and it is supposed that _Scott's
nankeen dye_ is nothing but arnatto dissolved in alkaline ley. This drug is
sometimes used by the Dutch farmers to give a rich colour to butter; and
the double Gloucester and several other kinds of cheese are coloured with
it. Poor people occasionally use it instead of saffron.
In countries where the arnatto shrubs are found, the _roots_ are employed
by the inhabitants in broth; and they answer all the purposes of the pulp,
though in an inferior degree. The _bark_ is occasionally manufactured into
ropes; and pieces of the _wood_ are used by the Indians to procure fire by
friction.
173. _The LIME or LINDEN-TREE is a British forest tree_ (Tilia europæa),
_distinguished by its heart-shaped and serrated leaves of bright green
colour, and by its berries or seed-vessels, having each four cells and
one bud._
_The blossoms are whitish, in small clusters, and have a yellowish green
floral leaf nearly as long as the fruit-stalk, and attached to it for
about half its length._
No one can have passed a grove of lime-trees, in the month of July, without
having been charmed with the perfume which, at this season, is emitted by
the _flowers_. They are a great resort of bees, and supply those insects
with materials for their best honey. Whether fresh or dried, they easily
ferment, and a fine flavoured spirit may be distilled from them. The _wood_
is close-grained, though soft, light, and smooth. It is much used by
carvers and turners; and is in great request for the boards of
leather-cutters. When properly burnt it makes an excellent charcoal for
gunpowder, and for painters.
If the _bark_ be softened in water, the fibrous inner part may be
separated: of this the Russians manufacture fishing-nets, mats, shoes, and
rustic garments; and ropes and other cordage, made from it, are stated to
be so remarkably strong and elastic, that, in this respect, they are
superior to iron chains. In some countries the _leaves_ are dried as a
winter food for sheep and goats; and, from these and the bark, a smooth but
coarse brown paper may be manufactured. An inferior kind of sugar may be
made from the _sap_; and the _seeds_, by pressure, yield a sweet and
pleasant oil.
The lime is an eligible tree to form shady walks and clipped hedges: but
its leaves fall very early in the autumn. In rich soils it attains a
prodigious size; and instances have been mentioned of these trees having
existed during more than six centuries.
174. _TEA, both black and green, consists of the dried leaves of an
evergreen shrub_ (Thea bohea _and_ Thea viridis, _of Linneus_, Fig. 49),
_with indented and somewhat spear-shaped leaves and white flowers with
six petals or more, which is much cultivated in China._
_The tea shrub attains the height of five or six feet, and is much
branched. The leaves, when full grown, are about 1½ inch long, narrow,
tapering, and of dark glossy green colour, and firm texture. The flowers
are not much unlike those of the white wild rose, but smaller; and they
are succeeded by a fruit about the size of a sloe, which contains two or
three seeds._
The tea-tree flourishes, with great luxuriance, in valleys, on the sloping
sides of mountains, and on the banks of rivers, in a southern exposure,
betwixt the thirtieth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude. It is
chiefly cultivated near Pekin, and around Canton, but it attains the
greatest perfection in the mild and temperate climate of Nankin.
The collecting of the leaves is conducted with great care: they are picked
singly, and, for the most part, at three different times of the year; about
the end of February, the beginning of April, and the end of May. The drying
and preparation of them, for use, are processes too long to admit of minute
detail respecting them in this place. It may, however, be observed, that
for these purposes buildings are erected, which contain from five to ten,
and some of them even twenty, small furnaces, each having, at the top, a
large iron pan. There is also a long table covered with mats, on which the
leaves are laid, and rolled by persons who sit round it. The iron pan being
heated by a fire in the furnace beneath, a few pounds of the leaves are put
upon it, and frequently turned and shifted. They are then thrown upon the
mats to be rolled betwixt the palms of the hands: after which they are
cooled as speedily as possible. That the moisture of the leaves may be
completely dissipated, and their twisted form be better preserved, the
above process is repeated several times with the same leaves, but with less
heat than at first. The tea, thus manufactured, is afterwards sorted,
according to its kind or goodness. Some of the young and tender leaves are
never rolled, but are merely immersed in hot water, and dried.
How long the use of tea has been known to the Chinese we are entirely
ignorant; but we are informed that an infusion of the dried leaves of the
tea shrub is now their common drink. They pour boiling water over them, and
leave them to infuse, as we do in Europe; but they drink the tea thus made
without either milk or sugar. The inhabitants of Japan reduce the leaves to
a fine powder, which they dilute with water, until it acquires nearly the
consistence of soup. The tea equipage is placed before the company,
together with a box in which the powdered tea is contained: the cups are
filled with warm water, and then as much of the powder is thrown into each
cup as the point of a knife can contain, and it is stirred about until the
liquor begins to foam, in which state it is presented to the company.
It was formerly imagined that black and green tea were the production of
different species of shrubs; but the Chinese all assert, that both are
produced from the same species, and that the sole difference which exists
betwixt them arises from the seasons when the leaves are gathered, and the
modes of curing them. The teas principally consumed in Europe are four
kinds of black, and three of green.
_Black Teas._
(_a_) _Bohea_, or _Voo-yee_, so called from the country in which it is
produced, is sometimes collected at four gatherings. As the leaves are
picked, they are put into flat baskets, which are placed on shelves or
planks, in the air or sun, from morning till night; after which they are
thrown, by small quantities at a time, into a flat cast-iron pan, which is
made very hot. They are twice stirred quick with the hand: then taken out,
again put into the baskets, and rubbed between men's hands to roll them.
After this they undergo another roasting in larger quantities, over a
slower fire: and are then sometimes put into baskets over a charcoal fire.
When the tea is, at last, sufficiently dried, it is spread on a table; and
the leaves that are too large, and those that are unrolled, yellow, broken,
or otherwise defective, are picked out, and the remainder is laid aside to
be packed.
The best bohea tea is a small blackish leaf, is dusty, smells somewhat like
burnt hay, and has a rough and somewhat harsh taste. The average annual
importation of bohea into this country, in the ten years from 1791 to 1800,
was 3,310,135 pounds.
(_b_) _Congo_, or _Cong-foo_, derived from a word which implies much care
or trouble, is a superior kind of bohea, less dusty, and with larger
leaves. These are gathered with peculiar care, and there is some little
difference in the preparation of congo and bohea. The leaves of the latter,
of souchong, hyson, and the fine single teas, are said to be beaten, with
flat sticks or bamboos, after they have been withered by exposure to the
sun or air, and have acquired toughness enough to keep them from breaking.
Of congo the annual average quantity imported in the above years amounted
to 9,564,202 pounds.
(_c_) _Souchong_, from a Chinese word which signifies small good thing, is
made from the leaves of trees three years old; and, where the soil is good,
even of the leaves of older trees. Of true souchong very little is
produced; what is sold to Europeans for this is only the finest kind of
congo, and the congo usually purchased by them is but the best sort of
bohea. Such is the delicacy of this tea that, upon a hill planted with
tea-trees, there may only be a single tree, the leaves of which are good
enough to be called souchong, and even of these, only the best and youngest
are taken. The others make congos of different kinds, and bohea.
(_d_) _Pekoe_ is distinguished by having the small white flowers of the
tree intermixed with it. This, which is chiefly consumed in Sweden and
Denmark, is usually made from the tenderest leaves of trees three years
old, gathered just after they have been in bloom, when the small leaves
that grow between the first two that have appeared, and which altogether
make a sprig, are white, and resemble young hair or down.
_Green Teas._
It has been asserted that green teas are indebted for their qualities and
colour to a process of drying them upon plates of copper. This is certainly
incorrect. The leaves for green tea are gathered, and immediately roasted,
or _tached_, as it is called, upon cast-iron plates, and then are very much
rubbed betwixt men's hands, to roll them. They are afterwards spread out
and separated, as the leaves in rolling are apt to adhere to each other:
and are again placed over the fire, and made very dry. After this they are
picked, cleansed from dust, several times tached or roasted, and finally
put hot into the chests in which they are to be packed.
The principal kinds of green tea are singlo, hyson, and gunpowder.
(_a_) _Singlo_, or _Song-lo_, is so named from the place where it is
chiefly cultivated. Of this tea there are three or more sorts; but the
leaves of the best are large, fine, flat, and clean. It is gathered at two
seasons, the first in April, and the second in June. As we see it, the leaf
is flattish, and yields, on infusion, a pale amber-coloured liquor.
(_b_) _Hyson_, or _Hee-chun_, has its name from that of an Indian merchant
who first sold this tea to the Europeans. There are two gatherings of
hyson. It should have a fine blooming appearance, be of a full-sized grain,
very dry, and so crisp that, with slight pressure, it will crumble to dust.
When infused in water the leaf should appear open, clear, and smooth, and
should tinge the water a light green colour; the infusion ought to have an
aromatic smell, and a strong pungent taste.
(_c_) _Gunpowder_ tea is a superior kind of hyson, gathered and dried with
peculiar care. This tea should be chosen in round grains, somewhat
resembling small shot, with a beautiful bloom upon it which will not bear
the breath: it should have a greenish hue, and a fragrant pungent taste.
Gunpowder tea is sometimes adulterated; an inferior kind being dyed and
glazed in such manner as to resemble it; but, on infusion, this is found in
every respect very inferior.
Tea, both black and green, is sometimes imported in balls from the weight
of two ounces to the size of peas.
The dried leaves of the tea plant are a commodity which, a century and a
half ago, were scarcely known as an article of trade. The earliest
importation of tea into Europe is said to have been by a Dutch merchant in
1610; but the time of its first introduction into England has not been
correctly ascertained. So scarce an article was it, for many years after
the above period, that, in 1666, twenty-two pounds and three quarters of
tea, estimated at fifty shillings a pound, were presented, as a valuable
gift, to King Charles the Second. The first importation of tea by the East
India Company was in 1669, and this consisted only of two canisters,
weighing 143lb. 8oz. So rapidly, however, has the consumption of this
article since increased, that, notwithstanding the immense distance from
which it is brought, it now amounts to more than twenty millions of pounds'
weight per annum. Such is, at present, the extent of the tea trade, that it
affords constant employment for at least 50,000 tons of shipping, and 6,000
seamen; and its importance to us is the greater since it has been the means
of opening, in China, a market for the sale of woollen goods, one of the
most essential articles of our manufacture, to the amount of more than one
million of pounds sterling per annum.
If good tea be taken in moderate quantity it is considered by medical men
to be beneficial, by exhilarating the spirits and invigorating the system;
but, when taken too copiously, it is apt to occasion weakness, tremor, and
other bad symptoms.
The tea plant may be propagated in the temperate climates of Europe, as
well as in the Indies; under the shelter of a south wall it will even
flourish in our own gardens. It is, however, somewhat remarkable that the
fresh leaves, if used for tea, produce giddiness and stupefaction; but
these noxious properties are capable of being dissipated by the process of
roasting.
In some of the southern parts of England there are smugglers who have
reduced to a regular process the management of the leaves of the ash, the
sloe, and some other trees, for the adulteration of tea. The article thus
prepared has the name of _smouch_, and is sometimes mixed in the proportion
of about one-third, with the ordinary teas. The preparation of it, however,
if discovered, is subject to very heavy penalties.
175. _CLOVES are the unexpanded flower-buds of an East Indian tree_
(Caryophyllus aromaticus, Fig. 50), _somewhat resembling the laurel in
its height, and in the shape of its leaves._
_The leaves are in pairs, oblong, large, spear-shaped, and of bright
green colour. The flowers grow in clusters, which terminate the branches,
and have the calyx divided into four small and pointed segments. The
petals are small, rounded, and of bluish colour; and the seed is an oval
berry._
In the Molucca islands, where the preparation of different spices was
formerly carried on by the Dutch colonists to great extent, the culture of
the clove-tree was a very important pursuit. It has even been asserted
that, in order to secure a lucrative branch of commerce in this article to
themselves, they destroyed all the trees growing in other islands, and
confined the propagation of them to that of Ternate only. But it appears
that, in 1770 and 1772, both clove and nutmeg trees were transplanted from
the Moluccas into the islands of France and Bourbon; and, subsequently,
into some of the colonies of South America, where they have since been
cultivated with great success.
At a certain season of the year the clove-tree produces a vast profusion of
flowers. When these have attained the length of about half an inch, the
four points of the calyx being prominent, and having in the middle of them
the leaves of the petals folded over each other, and forming a small head
about the size of a pea, they are in a fit state to be gathered. This
operation is performed betwixt the months of October and February, partly
by the hand, partly by hooks, and partly by beating the trees with bamboos.
The cloves are either received on cloths spread beneath the trees, or are
suffered to fall on the ground, the herbage having previously been cut and
swept for that purpose. They are subsequently dried by exposure for a while
to the smoke of wood fires, and afterwards to the rays of the sun. When
first gathered they are of reddish colour, but, by drying, they assume a
deep brown cast.
This spice yields a very fragrant odour, and a bitterish, pungent, and warm
taste. It is sometimes employed as a hot and stimulating medicine, but is
more frequently used in culinary preparations. When fresh gathered, cloves
will yield on pressure a fragrant, thick, and reddish oil; and, by
distillation, a limpid essential oil. The latter is imported into Europe,
but is frequently adulterated, and sometimes even to the amount of nearly
half its weight. Oil of cloves is used by many persons, though very
improperly, for curing the tooth-ache, since, from its pungent quality, it
is apt to corrode the gums, and injure the adjacent teeth. When the tooth
is carious, and will admit of it, a bruised clove is much to be preferred.
176. _LADANUM, or LABDANUM, is a resinous drug which exudes, and is
collected, from the leaves and branches of a beautiful species of cistus_
(Cistus Creticus), _which grows in Syria and the Grecian islands._
_The height of this shrub seldom exceeds three or four feet. Its leaves,
which stand in pairs on short foot-stalks, are oblong, wrinkled, rough,
and clammy. The flowers appear in June and July, and consist of five
large rounded petals of light purplish colour, each marked with a dark
spot at the base._
The ancient mode of collecting ladanum, if the accounts which have been
stated respecting it may be credited, was not a little curious. Goats,
which delight in grazing upon the leaves and young branches of the shrubs
that produce it, were turned loose into the plantation, and the resin that
adhered to the long hair of their beards and thighs was afterwards detached
by combing them.
The present method is different, and is a laborious and troublesome
employment. Tournefort informs us that he saw seven or eight country
fellows, in their shirts and drawers, and in the hottest part of the day,
drawing over the shrubs a kind of whip, or rake, with numerous long straps
or thongs of leather. From these they collected the resin, by scraping it
off with a kind of knife; after which it was made into cakes of different
sizes for sale. As loose sand generally adheres, in considerable quantity,
to the viscous leaves of the shrub, it is not unusual for dealers in this
drug to adulterate it with sand.
We import ladanum principally from the Levant and the Persian Gulf; and it
comes to us in cakes or masses of different size, dark colour, and about
the consistence of soft plaster; and also in rolls, lighter-coloured and
much harder, which are twisted up so as somewhat to resemble the rolls of
wax tapers.
The smell of ladanum is strong, but not disagreeable; and its taste is
warm, aromatic, and somewhat unpleasant. This drug was formerly much used
as an internal medicine; but it is now employed only externally, as an
ingredient in plasters.
177. _The TULIP-TREE_ (Liriodendron tulipifera) _is an American
production which yields a very beautiful and valuable kind of wood._
_It sometimes grows to the height of sixty or seventy feet; and has lobed
leaves, and tulip-shaped flowers._
While young, the _wood_ of the tulip-tree is white; but at an advanced age,
it assumes a fine yellow colour, or a streaked appearance of different
shades of red. This wood is equally useful in ornamental furniture, and as
a timber for building. It is occasionally employed in the construction of
light vessels; and the trunks of tulip-trees are frequently hollowed by the
Indians into canoes. When they have been grown in a favourable soil and
climate, one of them is sufficiently large to be made into a canoe capable
of containing several people.
On account of its quick growth and easy culture, this noble tree well
deserves the attention of planters in our own country.
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