robably, that in times of dearth the natives look more
after such a source of food. The Hindus eat it mixed with honey as a
delicacy, equal quantities being put into a hollow joint, coated externally
with clay, and thus roasted over a fire. The fleshly fruit of _Melocanna_
is baked and eaten. The plant is a native of India, but is sometimes
cultivated as in Mauritius. It is, however, the stem of the bamboo which is
applied to the greatest variety of uses. Joints of sufficient size form
water buckets; smaller ones are used as bottles, and among the Dyaks of
Borneo they are employed as cooking vessels. Bamboo is extensively used as
a timber wood, and houses are frequently made entirely out of the products
of the plant; complete sections of the stem form posts or columns; split
up, it serves for floors or rafters; and, interwoven in lattice-work, it is
employed for the sides of rooms, admitting light and air. The roof is
sometimes of bamboo solely, and when split, which is accomplished with the
greatest ease, it can be formed into laths or planks. It is employed in
shipping of all kinds; some of the strongest plants are selected for masts
of boats of moderate size, and the masts of larger vessels are sometimes
formed by the union of several bamboos built up and joined together.

The bamboo is employed in the construction of all kinds of agricultural and
domestic implements and in the materials and implements required in
fishery. Bows are made of it by the union of two pieces with many bands;
and, the septa being bored out and the lengths joined together, it is
employed, as we use leaden pipes, in transmitting water to reservoirs or
gardens. From the light and slender stalks shafts for arrows are obtained;
and in the south-west of Asia there is a certain species of equally slender
growth, from which writing-pens or reeds are made. A joint forms a holder
for papers or pens, and it was in a joint of bamboo that silk-worm eggs
were carried from China to Constantinople during the reign of Justinian.
The outer cuticle of Oriental species is so hard that it forms a sharp and
durable cutting edge, and it is so siliceous that it can be used as a
whetstone. This outer cuticle, cut into thin strips, is one of the most
durable and beautiful materials for basket-making, and both in China and
Japan it is largely so employed. Strips are also woven into cages, chairs,
beds and other articles of furniture, Oriental wicker-work in bamboo being