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ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, (CEYLON BRANCH.) 



Kalutara, and along the railway line as far as Polgahawela. 

 I measured a creeping stem of this grass growing in the 

 Bolgoda lake, which was 73 feet in length. The large panicles 

 when dry form an ornament in vases for the drawing-room, &c. 

 "Pipes are made of the culms, particularly those used by the 

 people who carry about the dancing snakes. The common 

 Durma mats of Bengal are made of the stalks split open. 

 Vessels from the port of Calcutta are generally d mm aged with 

 them. — "Rox. Is this distinct from the P. communis of Europe 

 which has a, very wide range ? 



" From die hollow reeds he fashioned 

 Flutes so musical and mellow, 

 That the brook, the Sebowisha, 

 Ceased to murmur in the woodland, 

 That the wood-birds ceased from singing, 

 And the squirrel, Adjidaumo, 

 Ceased his clatter in the oak-tree, 

 And the rabbit, ihe Wabasso, 



Sat upright to look and \\&teu"—Lo)?gfelloiv's Hiiwatha. 



152. A run do don ax ? Linn, or European reed, a native of 

 the south of Europe and Northern Africa. Has been introduced 

 to Ceylon and is used for basket making, but it does not seem 

 to flower here. I have seen plants of this growing at Coruna 

 in Spain, with culms more than an inch in diameter. A small 

 variegated grass, now commonly cultivated in Ceylon (the 

 gardener's garter ?) supposed to be a variety of this species, is 

 doubtless the variegated form of Phalaris arundinacea. 



153. Amphidonax Heynei, iV. ah Es. This grass is given 

 as found in the Central and Southern Provinces up to an 

 elevation of 4,000 feet. 



154. Amphidonax obtusiflora, Thm. En. p. 370. CP. 

 3,470. Found by Dr. Thwaites at Ratnapura. I have seen 

 bo specimen of this grass. 



