80 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



table. Tabaskir, or bamboo manna, a siliceous and crystalline substance which 

 occurs in the hollow stems of some bamboos, is regarded as possessing medicinal 

 properties. Good drinking water collects in quantities in the hollows of the inter- 

 nodes of many of the larger bamboos. All sorts of agricultural implements, appli- 

 ances for spinning cotton and wool or for reeling silk are often constructed entirely 

 from bamboo. Very many articles of household use or decoration made from bam- 

 boo have become articles of commerce in Europe and in this country. So many and 

 varied are the uses of the several species of bamboo that it is possible to mention 

 here only a part of them." (F. Lamson-Scribner.) 



For making paper stock the Chinese employ the shoots 1 and 2 years old. The 

 material is macerated in water for a week or more, after which the pieces — some 5 

 feet in length — are washed and placed in a dry ditch and covered with slacked lime 

 for a number of days, when they are again washed, cut into filaments, and dried or 

 bleached in the sun. In this state they aie boiled in large kettles and subsequently 

 reduced to pulp in wood mortars by means of heavy pestles. A glutinous substance is 

 then mixed with the pulp, aud upon this mixture the quality of the paper depends. 

 Another account is given in An Index to Economic Products of Jamaica, 1891, under 

 Bambusa vulgaris, as follows: 



"In China, it is the principal, if not the only, material for paper making. The 

 Chinese use the native bamboo, which they split into lengths of 3 or 4 feet, and place 

 in a layer in a tank. This is covered with lime, and alternate layers of bamboo and 

 lime are so placed until the tank is full. Water is run in to cover the whole, and 

 left for three or four months, when the bamboo has become rotten. The soft bam- 

 boo is pounded in a mortar into a pulp, mixed with water, and then poured on 

 square, sieve-like molds. The sheets are allowed to dry on the mold, then placed 

 against a hot wall, and finally exposed to the sun. Mr. Eoutledge advocated the use 

 of young shoots, but one difficulty is that cutting them weakens the stock; in fact, 

 if all the young shoots are cut for three successive years the stock dies. At Lacovia, 

 bamboo is crushed, and exported in short lengths as packing for cylinders. The 

 young shoots, freed from the sheaths, are used in India in curries, pickles, and pre- 

 serves. The very young shoots are not unlike asparagus." (Fau-cett.) 



While articles of bamboo are common in this country, being largely imported 

 brush making from bamboo splints is a considerable industry. 



Bamiya (Arab.). Hibiscus esculentus. 



Banana (see Musa sapientum). 



Ban-bway (Burm.). See Gareya arborea. 



Bandaka (Ceyl.). See Hibiscus esculentus. 



Bandala. See Musa textilis. 



Bandura-wel (Ceyl.). See Nepenthes. 



Bang (Pers.). Cannabis sativa. 



Bankas and Bankush (X. TV". Prov. Ind.). See Ischamum, 



Banraj and Banraji (Beng.). Bauliinia raccmosa. 



Ban-rhea (Ind.). See Villebrunea. 



Bans and Behur-bans (Beug.). Bambusa arundinacea. 



Bans-keora (Ind.). See Agave americana. 



Banyan Fiber (see Ficu.s benghalensis). 



Baobab Tree. Monkey Bread of Africa. See Adansonia digitaia. 



