GIANT BAMBOOS. 
a proper meteorological station has only since been estab¬ 
lished at Peradeniya. They may be taken however as being 
very nearly correct. A previous estimate of temperatures* 
shows that on the whole the range during this period was 
unusually small. The mean temperature however appears 
to be remarkably constant. 
Table III. 
GROWTH. 
The growth was recorded by the aid of a home-made 
instrument of very simple construction. This consisted of 
a straight piece of glass tubing about 30 cm. long, which 
was closed at one end and contained alcohol together with a 
bubble of air. The other end of the tube was plugged with 
a short piece of lead pencil. By means of this level a mark 
could be made upon an old halm adjoining the young apex 
the growth of which was under consideration ; and the level 
of the apex was thus recorded with a considerable degree of 
accuracy. The error of observation did not exceed one milli¬ 
metre when the measurement was made fairly close to the 
ground. At greater heights the error may have reached in 
some cases a centimetre or more, owing to the relative move¬ 
ments of object and scale. The distance between marks 
made in this way was measured directly by the aid of a 
steel rule graduated to £ mm. 
* Willis. Annals, vol. t, p. 5. 
