198 THE TRUE GRASSES. 



utensils. Smaller interuodes furnish pitchers, flasks, 

 and cups ; and wide interuodes, bee-hives. They are in 

 general use for carrying-poles, and for the masts of 

 small and medium-sized ships. Some species supply 

 walking-canes, especially the culms of the Japanese 

 Phyllostuehys and Arundinaria. The slender twigs fur- 

 nish pipe-stems, purses, knife-haudles, etc. Musical in- 

 struments (flutes) are easily made from the joints. The 

 " Auklong" of the Malays consists of interuodes of dif- 

 ferent thicknesses arranged according to their tones, 

 and suspended near each other, and which are made to 

 sound by striking. The Hying culms are made by the 

 Malays into ^Eolian harps by piercing them at certain 

 distances and thus allowing the air to pass through 

 them. The finely split bamboos open a new category of 

 uses. [The outer green rind of the young culms is split 

 into narrow strips or ribbons, and made into baskets 

 and fine braided work ; for example, Chinese fans, large 

 and small boxes, and even hats and jackets.] If the 

 threads are boiled in lye and then rolled and scraped, 

 they become soft enough for wearing and for ropes. 

 Coarse mats and baskets are woven from split bamboos. 

 Bamboo mats laid over each other like roofing-slate are 

 a favorite roofing material in the Malayan Peninsula. 

 The Shans and other inhabitants of the Malayan Penin- 

 sula prepare from the large parchment-like leaf-sheaths 

 of the young culms broad-rimmed hats which are an 

 excellent protection against the sun and rain. Bam- 

 boos are especially important for the manufacture 

 of Chinese paper, of which it forms the chief ingre- 

 dient. The well-known Chinese umbrella consists of 

 bamboo paper with a bamboo handle and split bamboo 

 for a skeleton. The leaves are used for packing, filling 

 beds, etc. The young shoots of the larger species are a 

 favorite vegetable with the Malays and Chinese, and 

 are even preserved for exportation. Those of the smaller 

 species are eaten in China like asparagus or lettuce. 

 The importance which may be reached by the fruit of 

 the bamboos has already been explained. The crops 

 produced are enormous and form an important article of 



