54 THE BAMBOO GARDEN CHAP. 
moisture, gradually the surface heaves and cracks, and with 
this mysterious assistance the shoots are enabled to push 
upwards. A careful examination for two or three days after 
the first appearance, especially in the early morning, shows 
that during the night the bud has supplied or condensed 
a quantity of water sufficient to soak the earth by which it 
is surrounded. The bud itself at early dawn, before sunrise, 
is abundantly impregnated with moisture. How is this 
moisture produced? Perhaps it comes from a secretion of 
the plant, for on its young and hardly-developed organs 
there appear tiny drops which from time to time are detached 
and fall upon the soil. At first it was supposed that this 
moisture, which was observed every morning, might be caused 
by the condensation of night dews or mists upon the young 
shoots; but where these had been covered and protected 
against all external influences the same phenomena were 
observed. Various and repeated experiments failed to give 
any definite explanation of the cause of this moisture. In 
the month of August 1874 Messrs. Rivicre observed what 
they describe as showers of rain falling from the leaves of 
certain Bamboos at eventide. They were enabled to gather 
enough of this water to take its temperature. Whether the 
former wonder occurs here, even in a modified degree, I am 
unable to say, for our plants are so heavily mulched that it 
would scarcely be possible to observe it, but I certainly have 
noticed dewdrops standing on the leaves and stems of my 
Bamboos when the surrounding vegetation, both above, below, 
and at the same height, was quite dry. 
There is one feature which I have observed in the hardy 
Bamboos, and which, as it is constant, I desire to record. 
