408 AN IMPENETRABLE BARRIER. 



whose berries contain a rich concrete substance called "tree-tallow," 

 employed, in the far East, in the manufacture of tapers. The latter 

 tree, popularly known as the "Tallow Tree," has rhomboid leaves, 

 with two prominent glands at the point of attachment between the 

 stalk and the leaf ; and its flower catkins are from two to four inches 

 long. " Its fruits contain three seeds thickly coated with a fatty 

 substance which yields the tallow. This is obtained by steaming the 

 seeds in large caldrons, and then bruising them sufficiently to loosen 

 the fat without breaking the seeds, which are removed by sifting. 

 The fat is afterwards made into flat circular cakes, and pressed in a 

 wedge-press, when the pure tallow exudes in a liquid state, and soon 

 hardens into a white brittle mass. This tallow is very extensively 

 used for candle-making in China ; but as the candles made of it 

 become soft in hot weather, they generally receive a coating of insect 

 wax. A liquid oil is obtained from the seeds by pressing. The tree 

 yields a hard wood used by the Chinese for printing blocks, and its 

 leaves are employed for dyeing black."* 



Climbing and epiphytous*}- plants are very numerous in India ; 

 but there are none, perhaps, which in vegetative force and tenacity 

 can be compared to those of the Calamus, and particularly of the 

 Calamus rotang (family of the Palmaceai). These Lianas are all 

 remarkable for their flexible stem, which attaches itself to the 

 trees, and frequently attains the prodigious length of 200, 250, 300, 

 and even 350 yards. This stem is formed of a series of internodes, 

 or jointed pieces, more or less wide apart, each of which bears a 

 feathery flower, with elongated sheath. The Calami frequently render 

 the forests which they inhabit virtually impenetrable, through their 

 long, flexible, and tenacious arms, stretching across from tree to 

 tree, or crawling over the ground, and bristling with formidable 

 thorns. It is these stems which are imported into Europe as bam- 

 boos, cut into different lengths, and there employed for various 

 industrial purposes. 



* Brande, " Dictionary of Science. Literature, and Art," iii. 610. 

 t From the Greek tirl, upon, and QVTOV, a plant. 



