86 USES 
Justinian. Ornamental trinkets, in many instances exquisitely 
carved, are made by the Indians and Chinese of portions of the 
thick stems ; also musical instruments, flutes, etc. In the Malay 
peninsula a curious Eolian harp is made of the live bamboo of a 
village clump or distant jungle ; the culms are perforated in such 
a way that when the wind blows through them sounds are pro- 
duced, “at times soft and liquid like the notes of a flute, and again 
deep and full like those of an organ.” The thin stems, or the 
larger ones split into shreds, are almost universally used. in the 
East for basket-work, and for making mats, brooms, brushes, 
window- and sun-blinds, shoes, etc. When bitten into fibres they 
are woven into a durable fabric for making coarse clothing, sack- 
ing, etc.; the body-cloth of the natives of Celebes is so made. 
Mats made of the split stems are used all over the East for walls, 
floors, screens, etc. ; in some of the northern parts of India the 
houses are almost entirely constructed of these mats, Bamdbusa 
Tulda being the species most frequently used. The Chinese use 
the leaves of bamboo for lining their tea chests. The tender shoots 
of bamboo, either cooked or pickled, are used as food both in 
India and China, and are cultivated for this purpose. The grains 
of bamboos furnish immense quantities of food when a general 
flowering takes place, but this is only at intervals of a great many 
years ; on some occasions this has prevented a famine. The twigs 
and leaves of bamboo are largely consumed by the Indian elephant, 
both wild and domesticated. The uses of bamboo for cordage and 
paper-making have already been mentioned. 
A great many kinds of grasses besides bamboos are applied 
in different countries to one or other of the uses above-named. 
Baskets, mats, etc., are made of the culms of Ammophila arundt- 
nacea, Elymus arenarius, and the leaves of Stipa tenactssima. 
The culms of Arundo donax, a cane-like grass, 8-10 feet high, 
native of Southern Europe, are used for walking-sticks, measuring 
rods, musical pipes, etc. The fragrant roots of Andropogon murt- 
catus (cuscus roots), abundant in India, are softened and woven 
into mats, which are hung over doors and verandahs, and sprinkled 
with water to scent and cool the heated atmosphere ; they are also 
largely used for making fans. The roots of another species of 
Andropogon (A. gryllus), grown in the south of Europe, are largely 
imported into Britain for making toilet and other brushes. The 
roots of Cyzodon dactylon are used in some parts of India for feed- 
ing domesticated animals. The roots of Agropyrum repens, the 
worst weed of British husbandry, when boiled are a nutritious food 
for swine. In the United States the panicles of Sorghum vulgare 
and .S. saccharatum are used for making brushes and carpet- 
brooms, which are very durable, and some are imported into Eng- 
land. The leaves of the larger kinds of grasses are often used for 
thatching, those of the sugar-cane, for example, in the countries 
where it is cultivated. The culms of Phragmites communis are 
applied to this and other uses in the fen district of England ; in 
the early centuries they were used for making pens. The crushed 
