adorned, however, with the most beautiful leaves, pinnated or
terminating in graceful tendrils. The plants creep or trail along to
an enormous length, sometimes, it is said, reaching five hundred feet.
Two examples of _Calamus verus_, measuring respectively two hundred and
seventy feet and two hundred and thirty feet, were exhibited in the
Paris exhibition of 1855.

The well-known Malacca canes are obtained from _Calamus Scipionum_, the
stems of which are much stouter than is the case with the average
species of _Calamus_. Doubtless to the vulgar a Malacca cane is merely
a Malacca cane. There are, however, in this interesting world choice
spirits who make a cult of Malacca canes, just as some dog fanciers are
devotees of the Airedale terrier. Such as these know that inferior
Malacca canes are, as the term in the cane trade is, "shaved"; that is,
not being of the circumference most coveted, but too thick, they have
been whittled down in bulk. A prime Malacca cane is, of course, a
natural stem, and it is a nice point to have a slight irregularity in
its symmetry as evidence of this. The delicious spotting of a Malacca
cane is due to the action of the sun upon it in drying. As the stems
are dried in sheaves, those most richly splotched are the ones that
have been at the outside of the bundle. What new strength to meet
life's troubles, what electric expansion of soul, come to the initiated
upon the feel of the vertebra of his Malacca cane!

The name of cane is also applied to many plants besides the _Calamus_,
which are possessed of long, slender, reed-like stalks or stems, as,
for instance, the sugar-cane, or the reed-cane. From the use as
walking-sticks to which many of these plants have been applied, the
name cane has been given generally to "sticks" irrespective of the
source from which they are derived.