Also 6–7 (fr. Pg.) tabaxir, 8 (fr. Fr.) tabachir. [Arab., Pers., Urdū tabāshīr chalk, mortar.] A siliceous substance, white or translucent, occasionally formed in the joints of the bamboo; also called bamboo salt; used medicinally in the East.
1598. W. Phillip, trans. Linschoten, 104/2. These Mambus have a certain matter within them … a very medicinable thing … much sought for by the Arabians, Persians, and Moores, that call it Tabaxiir.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Mendelslo’s Trav., II. 149. A sort of Canes … in which the Tabaxir is found.
1790. P. Russell, in Phil. Trans., Abr. XVI. 653 (heading). Account of the Tabasheer.
1826. Brewster, Lett., in Home Life, ix. (1869), 129. I have enclosed some specimens of Tabasheer, a substance of extreme rarity.
1829. Nat. Philos., I. Gloss. (Usef. Knowl. Soc.). Tabasheer … is, originally, a transparent fluid in the jointed cavities of the bamboo cane. This fluid thickens,… until … it is converted into a white, or a bluish white solid, something like a small fragment of a shell.
