CRYPTOGAM I A. 4l 



The cuticle or exterior covering of straw has also 

 a portion of flinty matter in its composition, from 

 which circumstance, when burnt, it makes an exqui- 

 sitely fine powder for giving the last polish to marble; 

 a use to which it has been applied time immemorial, 

 without the principle being philosophically known. 



In the great heat in the East Indies it is not un- 

 common for large tracts of Reeds to be set on fire, in 

 their motion, by the wind, which I conjecture must 

 arise from the flinty surface of their leaves rubbing 

 against each other in their agitation. In the works 

 of Sir W. Jones is an elegant Sanscrit stanza, de- 

 scribing the effect of Bamboo- canes often taking 

 fire by the violence of their collision, and ad- 

 dressed, under the allegory of a sandal-tree, as a 

 virtuous man dwelling in a town inhabited by con- 

 tending factions: it is thus translated: "Delight of 

 the world, beloved ChandanaJ stay no longer in this 

 forest, which is overspread with rigid pernicious Van- 

 sas } z whose hearts are unsound; and who, being 

 themselves confounded in the scorching stream of 

 flames kindled by their mutual attrition, will consume, 

 not their own families merely, but this whole wood." a 



These facts cannot avoid presenting to the mind 

 the consideration of the boundless laws of nature; — 

 while a simple vegetable secretes the most volatile and 

 evanescent perfumes, it also secretes a substance which 

 is an ingredient in the primeval mountains of the Globe. 



y The Hindu name of the Sandal-tree. z The Hindu 



name for this species of Bamboo. a Sir Wm, Jones, 4to, 



edit. Vol. ii p. 63. 



