540 GRAMINE^. 



West Indies, 121,600 tons. 



Mauritius 43,600 



East Indies 65,200 



Java and Manilla, 1 1,000 



Havana, Porto- Rico, and Brazil, 76,900 



Total, 318,300 tons. 



1100. Some grasses have a very agreeable fragrance. This has 

 been remarked in Anthoxanthum odoratum, which is hence called 

 sweet-scented vernal grass, and is said to impart the odour to new- 

 made hay in this country. Other grasses have the same property, 

 which has been referred to the presence of benzoic acid. A fragrant 

 oil is procured from some species of Andropogon, as A. Schoenanthus, 

 Lemon-grass, and A. Calamus aromaticus, which seems to be the n:p, 

 or oca rnp, the Sweet-cane of the Bible. Grasses contain a large 

 quantity of siliceous matter in their stalks. This is deposited so as to 

 form part of their structure, and in some cases it accumulates in the 

 joints. The tabasheer in the joints of Bambusa arundinacea, the Bam- 

 boo, is composed of silica. This is one of the tree-like brandling 

 grasses, which sometimes attains a height of fifty or sixty feet. It 

 shoots up with great rapidity. In the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, the 

 young shoots attain a height of thirty or forty feet in a few months ; 

 and the late superintendent (Mr. W. M'Nab) measured, during a long 

 summer day, a growth of the young stem to the extent of seven or 

 eight inches. Most of the species of Bamboo have hollow stems, which 

 often attain a diameter of many inches. Gardner mentions a large 

 species of Bamboo (B. Tagoara] having a stem 18 inches in circum- 

 ference, and attaining a height of 50 to 100 feet. The touch-paper 

 of the Chinese is made from a variety of Bamboo, by beating the young 

 shoots flat, steeping them in a lime pit for a month, and then washing 

 and drying. A kind of paper is made from the Bamboo in India. 

 Its young shoots are used as pickles. The hollow stems of some reeds 

 in warm climates supply refreshing water to travellers. 



1101. The stems of some grasses run under ground, and form a 

 sort of network, which is useful in consolidating the sand of the sea- 

 shore. Elymus arenarius and Ammopliila (Psamma) arenaria consti- 

 tute the Bent and Marram of the British shores. This tendency to 

 creep under ground, renders some grasses, such as Triticum repens, 

 Couch-grass, difficult of extirpation. The grains of some grasses are 

 used for ornaments. Beads are made from those of Coix Lachryma, 

 commonly called Job's-tears, from their form and hardness. A few 

 grasses, as Bromm purgans and caiharticus, have purgative properties; 

 and one, Lolium temulentum (infelix lolium), Darnel-grass, is poisonous. 

 Some suppose that it is the \i^a,vi, tares, of Scripture. The grains 

 of Rye, and other grains, are liable to a disease called Ergot, depend- 

 ing on the attack of a fungus which alters the texture of the ovary, 



