Fig. X. T exhibits a Copper Vessel lined with Tin, capable of containing four Ounces; and whose inferior Part about the Letter V is covered with a Kind of Case, woven of such Wood as the Europeans use in making Sieves; but so as that the Vessel can be taken out of the Case. But I am of Opinion, that the Chinese pour their hot Tea, whether infused, or boiled, into this, in order to prevent the scalding of their Hands; and so cool the Liquor, as that it may neither burn their Lips, nor Tongue.
Fig. XI. X represents this wooden Case, or Handle, by itself.
Fig. XII. Y exhibits a small wooden Ladle, with a semicircular wooden Handle.
Fig. XIII. Z represents a small, and somewhat incurvated wooden Spatula.
Fig. XIV. represents a small geometrical Foot, divided into ten equal Parts, for ascertaining the just Proportion of the Utensils described.
It is to be observed, that these Vessels are of a grateful fragrant Smell, resembling those of the Juniper, Cypress, or Aloes Tree, which is certainly owing to the bituminous Earth of which they are formed. Thus we have before observed, that the Kalenburgian bituminous Earth is as fragrant as Violets; and that, according to Martinius, it is on account of the Fragrance of these Vessels, that the Chinese are so fond of them, and purchase them at such immense Prices. We have also taken Notice from Tulpius, and Maffæus, that these Pots, Vessels, and other Pieces of Tea Equipage, are, by the Chinese, bought at the Rate of some Thousand Nobles, wrapped up in silken Coverings, shewn only to their nearest Friends, and as much valued by them as Adamants, Gems, and curious Medals are by the Europeans. Let the Europeans, therefore, before they drink Tea, which itself is void of Smell, provide themselves with the fragrant Vessels of Gnihing, and the Waters of the Rivulet Vussie, which they must bring uncorrupted from China; and then, on Supposition the Air was the same, which it is not, the same Effects might be produced in Europe by Tea, as those which it is boasted to produce in China. It is therefore far more congruous to Truth and Reason, to suppose, that the Chinese are free from the Stone, Gout, and arthritic Pains, rather by the Goodness of their Water, than by their Tea alone, which may also contribute something to their Happiness in these Respects. Besides, the Force and Virtue of Tea, must be considerably impaired and lost, by the intense Heat of the Sun, during so long a Voyage, in which the Equator must be twice crossed, before the Ships arrive at any European Ports. Hence we know from Experience, that those Persons most consult the Interest of the Europeans, who, according to Mercator, in his Description of China, advise, that Rhubarb, with the best Sort of which, China abounds, should be brought through Persia by Land, lest it should be spoiled and corrupted by so long a Voyage. What must therefore happen to Tea, or the Chinese Chamelæagnus, which is in China frequently toasted in an Iron Pan, so as to corrugate and conglomerate its Leaves, according to Rhodius and Martinius? For, if the Virtues of Rhubarb, which is a compact Substance, are, by such a Voyage, exhaled, this Misfortune must much more happen to the tender Leaves of Tea, which are gathered in the Spring, and have a bitterish Taste, but no Smell. Hence we may infer, that these Leaves are, after their Arrival at Europe, possessed of a volatile and fixed Salt, but deprived of their Sulphur, especially the most volatile Part of it; for, if they were intirely destitute of Sulphur, they would not take Flame, nor could they be burned. The Author of a Book, intitled, Artificia Hominum Miranda Naturæ in Sina & Europa, in Chap. 35. tells us, "that in Chekiang, in China, there are Woods of Mulberry-Trees, so many Silk-Worms, and such immense Quantities of Silk, that a Person may there purchase ten silken Suits of Cloaths at an easier Rate, than he can have one of Cloth in any Part of Europe. The Chinese prune their Mulberry-Trees every Year, as the Europeans do their Vines; nor do they suffer them to grow up into tall Trees, because they have found from long Experience, that the Leaves of the smallest Trees produce the finest Substance for Silk, and the best Thread: For which Reason, they justly distinguish between the first and second Weaving of the Thread: The former is produced when the Worms are nourished by the Leaves which appear in the Spring, and are soft and delicate: The latter is, when they are fed upon the Summer Leaves, which are coarse and hard; so great is the Difference of Work produced by these Animals only by a Change of Food." If this Account of the Nourishment of Silk-Worms is true, as we Europeans find it by Experience, so it is equally certain, that there is as great a Difference between those Leaves of the Chinese Tea, or European Chamelæagnus, which appear in the Spring, and those which are produced in the Summer, as I have all along insinuated in this Work. By this remarkable Passage of the anonymous Author, I am more and more convinced, that the vernal Leaves of the Chamelæagnus, or European Tea, are possessed of different Virtues from those which appear in the Summer, when the Sun has entered Leo: And those who will not grant this Truth, are confuted by the palpable Instance drawn from the Nourishment of the Silk-Worms.
By way of Digression, I shall intreat every Lover of Truth, to throw the Leaves, (not the Shrub, Flowers, or Seeds) of the European Chamelæagnus, which, when dry, have no Scent upon live Coals, and do the same with an equal Quantity of Chinese Tea, tho' in different Rooms, and by the exact Resemblance of the Smell diffused by each, he will be convinced that the Chamelæagnus is a Plant of the same Species with Tea.
I am not acquainted with all the Acts, Statutes, and Laws, of the different Cities of Europe, made for suppressing and preventing the Avarice and Exorbitance of Apothecaries; only in Upper and Lower Germany, a certain Fine is, by public Authority, laid upon the Apothecary who sells old and mouldy Herbs, or uses any Methods to make them appear good and fresh: Nay, it is customary, in some Provinces of Germany, publickly to burn such Herbs, Roots, Shrubs, or Plants as are bad, or suspected to be more than one Year old; lest the poorer Inhabitants should, like the Widow mentioned in Luke, Chap. viii. 43, spend all their Money upon Physicians, without being healed by any: But the Case is quite otherwise with Tea; for supposing it to be only one Year old, when it is put into the Ships at China, it must be double that Time, and often more, before it arrives to us. How great then is the Stupidity of us Europeans, who are never disgusted at the Avarice and Baseness of the Asiatics, though they should send us Tea as old as the Trojan War, whilst they use it fresh and good themselves? Besides, as the Tea-Leaves have no Smell, it is highly probable, that the Asiatics have infused and macerated them, and then dried them a second Time for the Use of the Europeans; since, when chewed in the Mouth, they are resolved into a Kind of gross Powder. I am also of the Opinion of the celebrated Wormius, who thought it highly probable, that Tea-Leaves were either mixed with others, or had others intirely substituted in their stead. If we are at such Care and Pains to discharge and prohibit the Sale of old European Plants, ought we not, with the same Rigour and Authority, to prohibit the Import of Tea deprived of its Smell, and long ago dried and prepared for the Use of the Chinese? The Man would surely be ridiculous who should import into Europe large Quantities of Tobacco, already cut small for the present Smoaking of the Indians, or Americans; or who should commend it on account of its unctuous Sulphur, or prefer it to large Pricks, made up hard and compact for the Sake of keeping; for cut Tobacco after it has been kept some Months and become dry, loses all its Virtue, and is despised by a phlegmatic European. It is also obvious from what has been said, that after the Chinese have toasted their Tea, they preserve it in close stopped Vessels, that it may not be corrupted, or too much dried by the Access of the Air: It is, therefore, the Duty of every European to join in engaging the Legislature to put a Stop to this epidemical Evil, and prohibit the Abuse, not only of Tea, but also of Tobacco, since both of these, and Coffee, as I have before shewn, so enervate the European Men, that they become incapable of propagating their Species, like Eunuchs, some of whom are highly salacious; but it is sufficiently known, that they are incapable of Procreation, tho' they emit something analogous to Semen. For this Reason, the Turks perform Castration in a different Manner from the Italians, since the former cut off Penis, Testicles, and all; and the latter only the Testicles. The Curious may consult Bartholinus Anatom. Reformat. Lib. 1. at the End of which, they will be informed why, and when it happens, that Horses and Bulls procreate their respective Species after Castration: The Turks, therefore, lest their Eunuchs should provide them with a spurious Progeny, treat them in a far more inhuman Manner, than the Italians do. Since we have mentioned the Turks, it will not be improper to observe, that the Persians, though salacious, are, nevertheless, generally impotent: For since, on account of Polygamy, which they have in common with the Turks, they have a numerous Progeny to be supported; when they copulate with their Wives and Whores, they are not so sollicitous to procure an Offspring, as, like the infamous Onan, to emit a vapid and unprolific Seed, which, on account of the Coffee corrupted in their Veins, may, by a Person acquainted with Chymical Principles, be justly compared to the Lees of Wine, in a great Measure deprived of the volatile Salt and Sulphur of the Wine: Or it may be compared to that of the Eunuchs of other less brutal Nations; or that of the Scythians, who are by Hippocrates, in Lib. de Aere, Aquis, & Locis, stiled emasculated and effeminate Mortals. The same Author, in the Work now quoted, assigns other Causes for the Sterility of the Scythians; "for, says he, they make so deep Incisions in the Veins behind their Ears, that when they come to be married, they are impotent." But Olearius informs us, that without this Practice, the salacious Persians emasculate themselves only by the Use of Coffee: Nor is this surprizing, since Salacity, instead of promoting Procreation, procures Sterility. Hence a common Strumpet rarely becomes pregnant, notwithstanding her frequent venereal Encounters with salacious Rakes and Debauchees. Besides, there is a vast Difference between stimulating, cold, and languid Constitutions to Venery, which is obtained by Rocket, and fecundating the Semen, which is obtained by some Vegetables, as Sweet Almonds, Pine Kernels, Pistachio Nuts, and Chesnuts; as also by Animals, as Capons, Larks, Thrushes, Kids-Flesh, Mutton, or Veal. I do not deny, but Coffee, Chocolate, and Tobacco, have a Power of stimulating to Venery, but may yet induce Sterility, because they consist of heterogeneous Parts, or rather act by their whole Substances: But all these Things are unfit for fecundating the Semen; as also all other Substances of a drying Quality, and not cold Substances, as is commonly believed. The Effeminacy and Impotence then produced by drinking Coffee, and smoaking Tobacco, are sufficiently obvious. And to these two, if I am not mistaken, good Judges will join Tea, because according to Martinius, the Chinese by the last not only extinguish Thirst, but also dissipate their Humours to such a Degree, that they hardly ever spit. It is also by a drying Quality, that the Agnus Castus, Rue, Mint, and Camphire, render Men impotent. Besides, Tea is to the Chinese themselves only a new Thing, whose Virtues and Faculties they have not, as yet, sufficiently investigated; for which Reason I justly prefer to it our own Betony, which has been deservedly celebrated for so many Ages. The Chinese Incapacity of Spitting is, therefore, a manifest Proof that Tea contains a drying, though not an intensely hot Sulphur. I do not find it expresly affirmed by Authors, that Chocolate, as well as Coffee, produces Sterility and Impotence; since they rather assert, that it proves a Stimulus to Venery: A Circumstance confirmed by the Accounts of some Men of Learning and Penetration, upon their Return from Africa and America. But as Benzon informs us, "that Chocolate has a somewhat bitterish Taste, and refrigerates, or dries the Body, without producing the smallest Degree of Intoxication:" Hence we may reasonably infer, that as Chocolate agrees with Coffee and Tea, in one Third of its Qualities, so all these three exactly agree with each other, in producing Effeminacy and Impotence: But I shall not here attempt an Investigation of their other Qualities. I therefore hope, that for the future, the Europeans will be wise, and reject Coffee, Chocolate, and Tea; since they are all either equally bad, or equally good: Nay, I hope to see People of all Ranks and Conditions, have as great an Aversion to them as the Mahometans and Turks, or rather their Emperors have to Tobacco, the Lovers of which, as well as thole who are idle, prodigal, barren, impotent, or effeminate, they will not suffer to live within their Territories. There is another Method of producing Barrenness and Impotence, probably brought from Asia into Europe, which is the indiscriminate Use of Venesection, in both Sexes, behind the Ears, for intolerable Tooth-achs. But let me tell the Persons, who, despising the Authority of Hippocrates, suffer, like the Scythians, the Veins behind their Ears to be opened, that they will afterwards repent their Folly, when they find Sterility and Impotence to be their Fate. Some practical Physicians may furnish us with Instances of Tooth-achs, accompanied with Deliriums, and other violent Symptoms; but none of them seem to have observed, that a Tooth-ach, when removed by opening the Veins behind the Ears, has proved the Cause of Sterility, as Hippocrates, who, according to Macrobius, was never deceived himself, nor imposed upon others, affirms, not of a single Instance or two, but of the whole Nation of the Scythians. Let, therefore, the Masters and Mistresses of Families reject the Custom of cauterising or opening the Veins behind the Ears, unless they incline that their Children should be cursed with Sterility, or Impotence, which are attended with a dire and numerous Train of Woes. So that we hope the Europeans will guard against Sterility; produced in the Indies by Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate; and in Scythia by opening, or burning the Veins behind the Ears.