The analyses of teas give little or no evidence bearing upon the market value of this commodity. A tea may be very rich in theine or tannin, and yet bring the same price as one poor in these substances. The same may be said in a general way of the other constituents. This is largely due, undoubtedly, to differences in soil, climate, the age of the leaf, and methods of manufacture. The flavor, strength, and appearance of a tea in general determine its market value. The flavor is due to the volatile oil developed during the manufacture, the strength to the proportion of tannin, and the appearance of the leaf to its age and the care taken in the rolling and other manipulations. A tea may be deficient in tannin and still bring a high price on account of the delicacy of its flavor, or, by the admixture of leaves rich in tannin, an operation termed blending, its strength may be increased to meet the demands of the market. In genuine unfaced teas the value is usually in a direct ratio with the soluble matter in the ash. According to Geisler, the finer the quality of the tea the more theine, soluble ash, and extractive matter it will contain, though this is not uniformly true. It has been stated that the relatively high price of Indian teas is largely due to their percentage of tannin. This permits the use of a very much smaller quantity of tea in preparing the infusion for the table. The writer found, among the samples which he submitted to analysis, 50-cent teas (retail price) containing as much tannin as many of those whose selling price was nearly double this amount.

1 Food Adulteration and Its Detection, E. & F. Spon, New York, p. 20.

An attempt was made in classifying teas to utilize the property which high grades have of quickly giving up a portion of their soluble matter when steeped in water. These experiments were carefully made, the conditions being the same in each case, but unfortunately the results were far from satisfactory. This problem must be left until more thorough studies of the chemistry of teas have been made, and until then we must continue as heretofore to depend upon the skill of the professional tea-taster and the honesty of the dealers in regulating the relative prices.

Since the above and other remarks on the valuation of teas were written, a Russian chemist1 has made an interesting series of investigations bearing upon this question.

According to this chemist the quality of the tea depends upon the care with which the fermentation is conducted. The fermentation of the leaves destroys a portion of the tannin, thus decreasing the astringent action of the tea. Mr. Doorkovitch has devised a process for the estimation of the products of the fermentation. In the article cited he presents the table of analyses given below, and on a basis of these analyses makes the following deductions:

The greater the ratio of theine to the total amount of tannin and products of fermentation, the dearer the tea. The more regular the fermentation, the better the tea.

The regularity of the fermentation is recognized by the relative amount of products of fermentation in tea.

Analyses of first-crop China teas of the season of 1890. [Tea dried at 100° C]

*Total amount of theine, tannin, and products of fermentation is represented by A for brevity.

1 Examination of of china Teas, p, Doorkovitch, Jour. anal. and appl. Ch.m., 5, 6, 345.

Analyses of first-crop China teas of the season of 1800 - Continued.

* Total amount of theine, tannin, and products of fermentation is represented by A for brevity.