14 



B AMBUS A VULGARIS, Wendl. 

 Bamboo. 



Native of East Indies. A gigantic grass, with woody stems, 20 to 

 50 feet high. (Graminece.) 



The fibre of the Bamboo is an excellent paper material. In China, 

 it is the principal, if not the only, material for paper-making. The 

 Chinese use the native bamboo, which they split into lengths of 3 or 

 4 feet, and place in a layer in a tank. This is covered with lime, and 

 alternate layers of bamboo and lime, are so placed, until the tank is 

 full. Water is run in to cover the whole, and left for 3 or 4 months, 

 when the bamboo has become rotten. The soft bamboo is pounded in 

 a mortar into a pulp, mixed with water, and then poured on square, 

 sieve-like moulds. The sheets are allowed to dry on the mould, then 

 placed against a hot wall, and finally exposed to the sun. Mr. Rout- 

 ledge advocated the use of young snoots, but one difficulty is that cut- 

 ting them weakens the stock ; in fact, if all the young shoots are cut 

 for three successive years, the stock dies. At Lacovia, bamboo is 

 crushed, and exported in short lengths as packing for cylinders. 



The young snoots, freed from the sheaths, are used in India in cur- 

 ries, pickles, and preserves. The very young shoots are not unlike 

 asparagus, 



" It would occupy a volume even to enumerate by name all the uses 

 to which the mature bamboo stems are put. Suffice it to say that to 

 the inhabitants of the regions where the bamboo luxuriates, it affords 

 all the materials required for the erection and furnishing of the ordi- 

 nary dwelling-house." (Watt.) 



Mr. A. R. Wallace, in "Tropical Nature," details some of ''the 

 endless purposes to which the bamboo is applied in the countries of 

 which it is a native, its chief characteristic being that in a few minutes 

 it can be put to uses which, if ordinary wood were used, would require 

 hours or even days of labour. There is also a regularity and a finish 

 about it which is found in hardly any other woody plant, and its 

 smooth and symmetrically linged surface gives an appearance of fit- 

 ness and beauty to its varied applications." 



BANANA. See Musa paradisiaca, yar. sajpientum. 

 BARBADOS PRIDE. See C^esalpinia pulcherrima. 



BAUHINIA VARIEGATA, Linn. 



Native of India and Burma. Naturalised in Jamaica. A small tree, 

 leaves 2-lobed ; 4 inches diam. ; flowers rosy-white, one petal with a 

 purple blotch at base, \\ to 2 inches ; pod flat, 3 to 5 inohea long. 

 (LeguminoscB.) 



Root decoction given in dyspepsia and flatulency. 



Bark, used in dyeing and tanning. It is, medicinally, alterative, 

 tonic, and astringent; a vermifuge; useful in scrofula, leprosy, akin 

 diseases, and ulcers. 



