334 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



overshadowing numerous minor trees and shrubs, and hung with lianas in 

 the form of festoons. The Mora, of all other trees of the forests of Guiana, is 

 peculiarly adapted for naval architecture; and it is to be found in such abund- 

 ance that if once introduced for building material into the dockyards, there 

 can never be any apprehension there would be a want of that timber which 

 could not be supplied. The wood is uncommonly close-grained, and gives 

 scarcely room for a nail when driven into it. When cleaned of sap, it is 

 durable in any situation, whether in or out of the water. With this property 

 it unites another of equal consideration to builders it is strong, tough, and 

 not liable to split, has never been known to be subject to dry-rot, and is 

 considered, therefore, by the most competent judges, to be superior to oak 

 and African teak, and to vie in every respect with Indian teak. The full 

 grown tree will furnish logs from 30 to 40 or even to 50 feet in length, and 

 from 12 to 24 inches square, taken from the main stem, while the remain- 

 ing portions are suited to various purposes of naval architecture ; such, for 

 instance, as keels, keelsons, stern-posts, flins, ribs, beams, knees, breasts, 

 backs, etc. 



Thus wrote Sir Robert Schombergh fifteen years ago. (Transactions of the 

 Linnozan Society, vol. xviii., p. 207) and, in the same volume, that there might 

 be no difficulty of distinguishing the tree in the search for it in other countries, 

 Mr. Bentham, from specimens sent by Sir Robert, publishes an excellent 

 figure and botanical history, under the name of Mora Excelsa ; for it had pre- 

 viously no place in botanical works. It belongs to the natural order of 

 Leguminosce, and to the same group or section as the well-known Cassias. 

 Yet it does not appear that the attention of any of our authorities or travelers 

 has been directed to the commercial importance of this tree till very recently. 

 The same tree has been found to prevail in certain localities of the Island of 

 Trinidad. Hooker's Journal of Botany. 



PECULIARITY OF THE REDWOOD (SEQUOIA) OF CALIFORNIA. 



At the meeting of the American Association in August, Mr. W. P. Blake 

 showed the effect produced on the wood of the Sequoia by alkalies. The 

 wood has a light red color, like cedar ; but when it is washed over with an 

 alkaline solution either of potash, soda, or ammonia, or lime-water, the color 

 changes to a -deep black, and the wood looks like ebony, but with a much 

 more distinct and beautiful grain. A decoction of the wood is also turned 

 black by alkalies ; and Mr. Blake suggests that test papers for use in chemi- 

 cal analysis may be prepared, which will be equal or superior to tumeric pa- 

 per. When the alkaline solution is weak, the color produced on the wood is 

 not a deep black, but has a shade of red resembling old dark mahogany or 

 rosewood. From the ease and cheapness with which the effect may be pro- 

 duced on the wood, and the beauty of the panels thus treated, it will doubt- 

 less become common to stain articles of furniture made of it in preference to 

 covering them with paint. This wood is now in constant use in California 

 for building and carpentering, and is sold at about the price of pine. 



