40 



ing, owing to the great scantiness of the rainfall during the past 

 two seasons, the poorer classes would have been hard pressed. 

 The fact that there has been an unprecedented deficiency in the 

 rainfall over a tract of country which is almost invariably well 

 favored in this respect, leading in its turn to a sudden seeding of 

 the bamboo, is significant and of interest ; but with this aspect of 

 the question I am not at present concerned, except in so far as to 

 incidentally draw attention to the old Brahmin saying, 'When the 

 bamboo produces sustenance we must look to Heaven for food.' 

 The purely local inhabitants are not the only ones who are taking 

 advantage of the present situation. The news has spread far and 

 wide into territories where forests do not exist, and the influx of 

 people represents a serious factor in the preservation of the re- 

 serves from fire. It is a common thing to see cart-loads of bam- 

 boo grain plying along our roads where but a short while back 

 grain in any form was at a premium. When the seed is ripe, a 

 very slight shaking of the already dry stems is sufficient to induce 

 it to fall plentifully. The flour is either mixed with rice or 

 'jowari,' or eaten by itself, prepared into the ordinary flat cakes 

 of the country, termed 'chapatis.' It has been found that two 

 women can collect about eight pounds of the seed in the day, 

 which, after the removal of the husk and bran, is reduced to six 

 pounds. This quantity will make thirty cakes seven inches in 

 diameter, or sufficient, it is said, to feed an able-bodied man for 

 six days." 



FERTILIZATION OF JASMINE FLOWERS. 

 It is remarkable that the most simple things are those one 

 knows the least about. Everyone has seen the flowers of the 

 Jasmine, but no one knows exactly how their fertilization is 

 effected. Recent researches, however, have helped to throw more 

 light on this interesting subject. Upon examining a flower of 

 r Jasminum one at once notices that the corolla tube is narrow, and 

 that the anthers are disposed in such a way as to almost com- 

 pletely close the entrance, leaving a passage between themselves 



