BOOK XVI. Lxv. i6i-Lxvi. 164 



attraction Avhich docs not belong in thc same degree 

 to the shafts grown in Belgium. The reeds of 

 Crete also have the same valuable property, although 

 those from India are placed highest of all, some people 

 beheving that they belong to a different species, 

 as with the addition of points they also serve the 

 purpose of lances. The Indian bamboo indeed is Thebamboo. 

 of the size of a tree, as we see in the case of the 

 specimens frequently found in our temples. The 

 Indians say that in this plant also there is a difference 

 between males and females, the male having a more 

 compact body and the female a bulkier one. And a 

 single length between knots, if we can beheve it, 

 will actually serve as a boat. The bamboo grows 

 especially on the banks of the river Chenab. 



Every kind of reed makes a great many stems from 

 one root, and when it is cut down it grows again 

 even more proHfically. The root is by nature very 

 tenacious of Hfe ; it as well as the stem is jointed. 

 Only the Indian bamboo has short leaves, but in all 

 the reeds the leaves sprout from a knot and wrap 

 the stem all round with coats of thin tissue, and at a 

 point halfway between two knots usually cease to 

 clothe the stems and droop forward. The reed and 

 the cane though round have tv> o sides, with a series 

 of shoots thrown out above the knots alternately, so 

 that one forms on the right side and then another at 

 the next joint above on the left, turn and turn 

 about. From these sometimes grow branches, 

 which are themselves slender canes. 



LXVI. There are,however,several varietiesofreed. ^,^^ 

 One is rather compact and has joints closer together, laneties o/ 

 with short spaces between them, while another has 

 them farther apart with larger spaces between 



493 



