58 FLINTY SECRETION. 



flavour depends. How far are we still from under- 

 standing the whole anatomy of the vegetable body, 

 which can create and keep separate such distinct and 

 discordant substances ! 



Nothing is more astonishing than the secretion of 

 flinty earth by plants, which, though never suspected 

 till within a few years, appears to me well ascertained. 

 A substance is found in the hollow stem of the Bam- 

 boo, (Arundo Bambos of Linnaeus, Nastos of Theo- 

 phrastus,) called Tabaxir or Tabasheer, which is sup- 

 posed in the East Indies (probably because it is rare 

 and difficult of acquisition, like the imaginary stone 

 in the head of a toad) to be endowed with extraordi- 

 nary virtues. Some of it, brought to England, under- 

 went a chemical examination, and proved, as nearly 

 as possible, pure flint. See Dr. Russell's and Mr. 

 Macie's papers on the subject in the Phil. Trans, for 

 ] 790 and 1 79 1 . It is even found occasionally in the 

 Bamboo cultivated in our hot-houses. But we need 

 not search exotic plants for flinty earth. I have al- 

 ready, in speaking of the Cuticle, chapter 3d, alluded 

 to the discoveries of the late Professor of Chemistry 

 at the Royal Institution, on this subject. That able 

 chemist has detected pure flint in the cuticle of various 

 plants of the family of Grasses, in the Cane (a kind 

 of Palm) and in the Rough Horsetail, Equisetum 

 hyemale, Engl. Bot. t. 9 1 5. In the latter it is very 

 copious, and so disposed as to make a natural file, 

 which renders this plant useful in various manufac- 



