its yield
a solid fat, used for making candles, although it has a most
disagreeable odor.

408. THEA VIRIDIS.--This is the China tea plant, whose native country
is undetermined. All kinds and grades of the teas of commerce are
made from this species, although probably it has some varieties.
Black and green teas are the result of different modes of
preparation; very much of the green, however, is artificially
colored to suit the foreign trade. The finest teas do not reach
this country; they will not bear a sea voyage, and are used only
by the wealthy classes in China and Russia. The active principles
of the leaves are theine and a volatile oil, to which latter the
flavor and odor are due. So far as climate is concerned for the
existence of the tea plant in the United States, it will stand in
the open air without injury from Virginia southwards. A zero frost
will not kill it. But with regard to its production as a
profitable crop, the rainfall in no portion of the States is
sufficient to warrant any attempt to cultivate the plant for
commercial purposes. But this does not prevent its culture as a
domestic article, and many hundreds of families thus prepare all
the tea they require, from plants it may be from the pleasure
ground or lawn, where the plant forms one of the best ornaments.

409. THEOBROMA CACAO.--This plant produces the well-known cacao, or
chocolate, and is very extensively cultivated in South America and
the West India Islands. The fruit, which is about 8 to 10 inches
in length by 3 to 5 in breadth, contains between fifty and a
hundred seeds, and from these the cacao is prepared. As an article
of food it contains a large amount of nutritive matter, about 50
per cent being fat. It contains a peculiar principle, which is
called _theobromine_.

410. THEOPHRASTA JUSSIAEI.--A native of St. Domingo, where it is
sometimes called Le petit Coca. The fruit is succulent, and bread
is made from the seeds.

411. THESPESIA POPULNEA.--A tropical tree, belonging to the mallow
family. The inner bark of the young branches yields a tough fiber,
fit for cordage, and used in Demerara for making coffee bags, and
the finer pieces of it for cigar envelopes. The wood is considered
almost indestructible under water, and its hardnes