352 
FOXWOUTIIY. 
r 
has been a task of some difficulty, because of their large nutnbur and the 
unsteady and uncertain supply of any oijo species at any given time. 
There are about sixty-five coinmorcinV ^voods furnished by about one 
lumdred species which are nearly nlways to be found in Manila, and in 
addition, there are several times as many which may occasionally be 
brought here in small quantities, so that the resnlting e(>m])lication is 
considerable. It follows that the chances for error are very great ; so that 
this paper at best can be only preliminary to the more complete work in- 
dicated by the title. 
TREVIOCS WORK. 
But little has been done in the wav of careful studv of the native 
woods; the literature is as follows: 
ViDAL Y SoLER (D. DoMirCGo) . — Maiuiai del Maderero en Filipinas (1877), and 
otlier works by tlie same author. 
Scattered notes by other Spanish authors. 
FoKEMAX (John). — The Philippine Islands. London (1899), 2d edition, 307-373; 
, (1906), 3d edition, 312-317. 
This author gives notes on some of the !>est-known oommercial woods. 
AiiERx, George P. — Important Philippine Woods. Manila (1901). 
This is a compilation of notes from previous writers. This book brought 
together what had been written of the Philippine wood:? before 1901. 
GARnxER. R. — Mechanical Tests, Properties, and Uses of Thirty Philippine Woods. 
Manila, For. Bur. Bull (1906), 4, 2d edition (Aug., 1907). 
Whitford, H. N. — A preliminary Check-list of the Pliilippine Commercial Tim- 
bers. Manila, For. Bur. Bull. (1907), 7. (Tn press.) 
The last two publications are most useful at the present time and they 
have been quoted extensively in this paper. 
• SCOPE AXD METirODS OF TilE I'BESE.NT WORK. 
In this paper the attempt has been inade to give: 1. A general and 
technical discussion of wood. 2. A key to the common commercial 
woods. 3. Short notes on the structure^ appearance^ common names, 
range, and u^icfulness of individual species. 4. A very complete index. 
Botanical material has furnished the starting point in correlating the 
name and wood which should go together; the botiinical determination 
being made from herbarium material taken from the same tree as is the 
wood specimen; when the rfcientific name has been fixed and the structure 
studied, the wood is compared with commercial material until the latter 
can be determined definitely under its diiferent names. Sections, when- 
ever necessary, and as many as were necessary, have been made to deter- 
mine doubtful points of structure. 
The usefulness of this paper should consist in the ready classification 
of the commoner native woods; in the better understanding of their uses; 
in the finding of new applications for them and in discovering the 
relationships existing between the woods of the Philippine Islands and 
those of the rest of the world. 
