CANES or Rattans.
Canne, roseau, . . Fa. ' Bed, . . HIND., PERS. Baton, ratan, . . . „ Canso, . . . . SP.
Rohrt, GER. Junco de Indies, . „ Nathur, . . GrJ. Perambugal, . . TAIL Rotan, . . MALAY. Bettamulu, . . . TEL Canna, bastone, . . Ir.
Canes are the produce of the Calamus genus of palms, of which the species are numerous in the islands of the Indian Archipelago, in the Malayan Peninsula, in the humid parts of the Madras territories, in the forests of the districts of Chit tagong, Sylhet, and Assam, along the foot of the Himalaya as far north as the Dehra Doon, where a species is found which Griffith named C. Royle anus ; and he applied the name of C. Roxburghii to the plant which Roxburgh called C. rotang, common in Bengal and on the Coromandel coast. Both are used for all the ordinary purposes of cane ; as also are C. tenuis of Assam, C. gracilis, C. extensus, and others. But those of the shops are gathered indiscriminately, and it is not pos sible to say from what particular species they come. C. rotang has, however, been said to furnish the stouter, and C. Scipionum the slenderer sorts. ' Mr. Griffith considered C. Scipionum of Loureiro to be the species which yields the well-known Malacca cane, but the plant does not appear about Malacca, and the canes are stated to be imported from Siak, on the opposite coast of Sumatra. Even this does not, however, seem to be correct, as the Malacca Committee for the Exhibition of 1862 sent Malacca canes, as cut from the jungle, previous to being subjected to the process of smoking, which gives the cane the rich brown tint so much admired iu Europe. The stem of Calamus verus
is described as being 100 feet long ; that of C. oblongus, 300 to 400 feet ; of C. rudentum, upwards of 500 feet ; and of C. extensus, as much as 600 feet. Rumpliius wren states that one kind attains the extraordinary length of 1200 feet (vol. v. p. 100). In the Tenasserim Provinces there are numerous species indigenous in the forest, and the Karens have different names for seventeen species or varieties, used extensively instead of cordage. The stays of the masts in Burmese boats are usually made of rattans, and they are split up into strings for the innumerable purposes to which cord and twine are usually applied. All that gives stability to bamboo houses, is the rattan which ties them together. The Calamus rudentum of Loureiro is manufactured at Malacca into cables, and is employed for dragging great weights and binding wild elephants. A cane bridge over the Temishang in the Khassya hills is 312 feet long, and 50 feet above the river. It oscillates greatly. ---Masdn's Tenasserim ; Royle, Ill. Him. Bot.; Royle, Fib: Pl.; Cat. Ex. 1862. See Calamus.