Chap. 66.] 
¥LUTE EEED3. 
405 
of India are preferred ; in the opinion of some persons, how- 
ever, these last are of a totally dilferent nature, for by adding a 
point to them, the natives are able to use them as lances even. 
Indeed, we find that in India the reed grows to the thicknc^ss 
of a tree, a fact which is proved by the specimens which are 
everywhere to be seen in our temples. The Indians assure 
us that in this plant, too, there is the distinction of male and 
female ; the body of the male being more compact, and that 
of the female of a larger size. In addition to this, if we can 
credit the fact, a single compartment between the joints is 
sufficiently large to answer the purposes of a boat.^' These 
reeds are found more particularly on the banks of the river 
Acesines. 
In every variety of the reed a single root gives birth to 
numerous stems, and if cut down, they will shoot again with 
increased fecundity. The root, which is naturally tenacious 
of life, is also jointed as well as the stem. The reeds of India 
are the only ones in which the leaves are short ; but in all the 
varieties these leaves take their rise at the joints, and surround 
the stem with a fine tissue about half way upwards to the 
next joint, and then leave the stem and droop downwards. 
The reed, as well as the calamus, although rounded, has two 
sides, which throw out leaves alternately from above the joints, 
in such a way that when one springs from the right side, the 
next issues from the joint above it on the left, and so in 
turns. Branches, too, shoot occasionally from the stem, being 
themselves reeds of diminutive growth. 
CHAP. 66. FLUTE EEEDS ! THE EEED OF OECHOMENTJS ; EE1^I)S 
USED FOE FOWLING AND FISHING. 
The varieties of the reed are numerous. Some are more 
compact than others, thicker at the joints, and with a shorter 
interval between them ; while others, again, are less compact, 
with longer intervals between the joints, and not so straight. 
Another kind of reed is quite hollow ; it is known as the 
^'syringia/'^^ and is particularly useful for making flutes, having 
neither pith in it nor any fleshy substance. The reed of Or- 
See B. vii. c, 2. This is probably an exaggeration. He alludes to 
the Bamboa arundinacea of Lamarck, the Arundo arbor of C, Bauhia. 
'^^ The ilrundo donax of Linnaeus. 
