BAMBOOS 



Tabashir 



THE INDIAN BAMBOOS 



Medicine. 



Manna. 



Tabashir. 



Two Kinds. 



Agent of 

 Formation. 



Metabolism. 



there observes, " It is considered that the manufacture of paper pulp would 

 be practicable from a commercial point of view ; the prospects of an ex- 

 port trade for unbleached bamboo pulp appear to be favourable, having 

 regard to the excellent quality of the pulp prepared under favourable 

 conditions. It is estimated that a ton of unbleached bamboo pulp could 

 be produced for 5 10s. including manufacturing costs, interest and 

 miscellaneous charges. This cost, supplemented by the freight to England 

 and sundry dues, would be increased to 7 10s. as the price delivered to 

 London or Liverpool. Considering the quality of the pulp, a profit should 

 be realised, since wood pulp is valued at 8 to 9 a ton. The manufacture 

 of bleached bamboo pulp for export does not, however, appear to be 

 promising chiefly in consequence of the high cost of importing bleaching 

 powder and the deterioration of this chemical in a warm climate. The 

 value of the pulp for local use in a paper mill in Burma is considered un- 

 doubted, and the manufacture of paper from bamboo offers favourable 

 possibilities as a new industry for Burma." 



Wiesner (DenJcscht. Akad. Wiss. Wien. Math.-Nat., 1902, Ixxii., 7, 8), 

 quoting Karabacek (Das Ardbische Papier, 29), also Giles, says that the 

 modern Chinese paper " is made from bamboo fibre, the bark of the 

 Uroussonetia papijrifera, and rice straw." The late Sir Dietrich 

 Brandis (I.e. 25) seemed, moreover, to think that in spite of all the 

 disadvantages, " Bamboo paper has a future in India." He urged the 

 necessity for a thorough inquiry into whether or not, by special culti- 

 vation, the plant could be induced to afford shoots more freely and for 

 a longer period, without injury to the rhizome, and whether it would not 

 be possible for mature culms to be used in paper-making. \Cf. Journ. 

 Soc. Chem. Indust., 1904, xxiii., 265.] 



Medicine. Tabashir. In the interior of the hollow stems of most 

 bamboos, chiefly J>(unbtisa arundinacea, a silicious and colloidal 

 substance is found, known in the bazars of India as Tabashir; Bdnsa 

 rochana or TavaJc-Jcshira in Sanskrit. This has erroneously been called 

 Bamboo Manna by some writers, thereby obscuring the circumstance 

 recently established that certain species produce a true manna on the 

 outer surface of their culms. The following may be given as the chief 

 vernacular names for the substance found within the stems : Tabashir, 

 bans-lochan, bans-Jcapur, thstoriyd, banasa-mitha, vds-numitha,munga-luppu, 

 veduruppu, moleuppa, bidaruppu, tavaJcshird, vdchhd, vathegd-Jciyo, vathe- 

 gasd, vasan. In the Dictionary will be found a brief sketch of the history 

 of tabdshir. This has since been amplified by Dymock in his Materia 

 Medica of Western India ; by Sir D. Brandis in the Indian Forester of 

 1887 ; by the authors of the Pharmacographia Indica and by many corre- 

 spondents in the Indian press. There are two kinds of tabdshir known in 

 the bazdrs, viz. Jcabudi, blue ; and safed, white ; the former is only 

 pale blue. It is largely used by Hindus and Muhammadans, and is 

 considered cooling, tonic, aphrodisiac and pectoral. It is an ingredient 

 in many compound medicines which are given in different lung diseases, 

 but from its chemical composition it must be quite inert. Cohn 

 (Beitrdge sur Biolog. der Pflanz., 1887, 365-406) may be said to regard 

 it as the residuum of the water which fills the young joints. Sir David 

 Brewster, in 1819, supported the opinion that the deposit within the stems 

 was a consequence of disease set up by an insect. Brandis views (though 

 incorrectly) the deposition as a natural process in the metabolism of 



110 



