74 



BAMBOO. 



er places, the town of Kalusz was destroyed 

 in September, with a loss of nearly $1,000,000 

 in buildings, leaving 3,000 persons shelterless 

 and without the means of subsistence. 



Hungary. The Parliament is composed of a 

 House of 'Magnates and a House of Representa- 

 tiv.-s. The House of Magnates, under the re- 

 form act of 1885, includes all hereditary peers 

 who pay over 3,000 florins per annum in land- 

 t.-vxes; 50 archbishops, bishops, and other dig- 

 nitaries of the Roman Catholic Church and 

 (Jr.vk Orthodox Church, with lay delegates 

 from the Protestant and Jewish bodies; 100 

 life-peers appointed by the King, a category 

 which was represented in the first Parliament 

 under the reform act by 50 members that were 

 selected by the house itself; ten official mem- 

 bers, being state dignitaries and judges of the 

 highest courts, and the archdukes who have 

 reached their majority. In the first session of 

 the reformed Chamber of Peers there were 22 

 archdukes and 233 resident Hungarian peers 

 who held seats undei 4 the tax limitation. The 

 lower house is composed of delegates elected 

 by the direct suffrage under a low property or 

 educational qualification. The house in 1885 

 -'86 consisted of 453 members, of whom 337 

 represented Hungarian towns and districts, 76 

 were elected from Transylvania, and 40 were 

 delegates from Croatia and Slavonia. 



A bill prolonging the duration of Parliaments 

 from three to five years was finally enacted 

 in January, 1886, by a large majority. 



The ministry is composed of the following 

 members: President of the Council, Koloman 

 Tnza; Minister of Finance, Count Gyula Sza- 

 pury ; Minister of the Honved, Baron Geza 

 Fejervary; Minister near the King's person, 



Baron Orczy ; Minister of the Interior, Kolo- 

 man Tisza ; Minister of Education and Public 

 Worship, Dr. August Trefort ; Minister of Jus- 

 tice, Theophile Fabinyi, previously President 

 of the Court of Cassation, appointed May 15, 

 1886, in the place of Dr. Theodor Pauler, de- 

 ceased; Minister of Communications and Pub- 

 lic Works, Baron Orczy, appointed ad interim 

 in the place of Baron Kemeny, who resigned 

 on Sept. 25, 1886; Minister of Agriculture, In- 

 dustry and Commerce, Count Paul Szechenyi ; 

 Minister for Croatia and Slavonia, Koloman de 

 Bedekovich. 



Hungary has developed the parliamentary 

 system of government to a high degree, and 

 views with anxiety the deviation of Austria 

 under the present ministry from the principles 

 of parliamentary government that were culti- 

 vated during the ascendency of the German 

 Liberal party. 



Finances. The revenue for 1884 was 810,- 

 858,230 florins, including 6,800,000 florins ob- 

 tained as part of a loan ; the expenditure, 318,- 

 605,680 florins. The estimated revenue for 

 1885 was 326,317,695 florins; estimated ex- 

 penditure, 337,993,528 florins. The total reve- 

 nue for 1886 is estimated at 329,790,397 florins. 

 The estimated expenditure amounts to 344,- 

 651,674 florins, of which 316,502,871 florins 

 are ordinary expenditure. The special debt of 

 Hungary, which is still increasing, owing to 

 the constantly recurring deficits, amounted in 

 1885 to 127,158,000 florins. The annual charge 

 of the special and common debts amounts to 

 37 per cent, of the revenue. 



In the budget for 1887 the total expendi- 

 tures are estimated at 350,400,000 florins, and 

 the receipts at 328,300,000 florins. 



B 



BAMBOO. It has Jong been known to botan- 

 ists that a species of bamboo with a square 

 stem grows in Japan, and more recently it has 

 been learned that a similar species exists in 

 China. Until within a few years it was sup- 

 posed that this peculiar shape resulted from 

 some of the ingenious artificial appliances that 

 the Mongolian races so successfully employ in 

 producing curious horticultural freaks; but it 

 is now known, on the authority of botanists 

 resident in China and Japan, that the quadran- 

 gular form is a natural growth. In China, 

 whence it was probably transplanted to Japan 

 ages ago, its geographical range is from 25 to 

 30 north latitude, along the coast, and as far 

 into the interior as investigations have been 

 made. It sprouts late in the season, and the 

 steins are usually from two to five feet long, 

 when the growth is checked by the cold of mid- 

 winter. In the spring, the growth begins 

 au'.iin, and in the course of the season the 

 plant attains its full height of ten to fourteen 

 feet, with a maximum diameter of one inch 



and a half. The peculiar shape is not fully de- 

 veloped until after the second or third year. 

 Like many other species, its lower joints are 

 thickly set with thorns. Chinese tradition as- 

 cribes to it a miraculous origin. The famous 

 alchemist, Ko-Hung, had a pair of artificially 

 squared bamboo chopsticks, which he thrust 

 into the soil of the temple-garden at Ningpo, 

 where they took root, and a new species of 

 bamboo was created. It is recorded that in 

 650 A. D. the reigning Emperor sent to Che- 

 Kiang, where the square bamboo was specially 

 cultivated, for specimens to plant in the im- 

 perial park. The Chinese regard it with su- 

 perstition, ascribing to it miraculous powers. 

 It is cultivated mainly for ornament, in gar- 

 dens and temple courts. The larger stems are 

 used for staves, and the smaller for pipe-stems. 

 No flowering specimens of this bamboo have 

 been received by competent botanists, and 5t<* 

 final classification is not positively settled. It 

 has been named by Fiensi Bambusa quadranfju- 

 laris, and specimens are now growing in the 



