BAMBU′SA

[Endl.] The bamboo. In botany , a genus of magnificent arborescent gra es, of the nat. order Gramineæ (DC.), having hollow jointed stems, of a hard woody texture, externally coated with siliceous matter, and sometimes secreting a similar siliceous substance ( TABASHEER′ ) in their internal cavities. They are all of rapid growth, and vary in height from 6 to 150 feet. There, is, perhaps, scarcely any other plant besides the palm which serves for so many purposes useful to man, as the various species of bamboo. Its grain is used for bread; the young shoots are eaten like asparagus, and are also pickled; the smaller stalks are made into walking canes, umbrella and parasol sticks, flutes, .; whilst its fibres are manufactured into cloth, and even paper. It is employed extensively in the construction of houses, bridges, masts for boats, domestic furniture, boxes, mats, baskets, utensils of various kinds, fences, water pipes and ve els, quicksilver bottles, ., and for numerous other purposes connected with everyday life. In localities where ordinary surgical appliances are not at hand, splints, of any required length or size, can be made with very little delay, from the stems of the bamboo. The older and drier stems are to be preferred for this purpose. The genus is confined to the East and West Indies and tropical America. See Cane , Pickles , Tabasheer , .