Captain Munro on the Timber Trees of Bengal. 89 



n>, c. 1. This wood appears to be very abundant in Chitta- 

 gong and in Southern India, but I am not aware that it is 

 applied to any other purpose than cabinet-making, for which 

 it is admirably adapted. According to Mr Masters, this tree 

 is known in Assam by the same native name as the Toon, 

 namely Toona. 



11. Billo — Chloroxylon swietenia — the Satin wood. — It is 

 generally found in company with the Bohunna. It is, how- 

 ever, much rarer, but is deserving of greater attention than 

 has been yet paid to it. 



12. Soondree — HeriHera minor. — This tree, which fur- 

 nishes a great portion of the firewood of Calcutta, belongs to 

 the natural family of Sterculiacece, in which almost all the 

 woods are very perishable ; and indeed in one tree, the Adan- 

 sonia, which far surpasses in size any that we are acquainted 

 with, the wood passes into dust within twelve months of the 

 felling of the tree. However, the Soondree, from Captain 

 Baker's experiments, appears to be the strongest and tough- 

 est wood he tested. The mean of five experiments gave 

 1312 lb. for breaking. The specific gravity is much the same 

 as Sdl, 1030. Soondree is very generally used in Calcutta 

 for buggy shafts, and is well adapted for all temporary pur- 

 poses where strength and elasticity are required. It is also 

 used for boats, boat-masts, poles, and spokes of wheels. I 

 imagine the Soonderbunds derive their name from this tree. 



13. Sissoo — Dalbergia sissoo, Roxb. — This, with Dalhergia 

 latifolia, Sitsal, or Blackwood, and Dalbergia emarginata, or 

 Andaman sissoo, all belonging to the same genus, composes 

 a portion of the natural family Leguminosce, notorious for its 

 timber trees, some of which, in America, according to Mar- 

 tius, attain the gigantic size of being at the bottom 84 feet 

 in circumference, and 60 feet where the tree becomes cylin- 

 drical. If Sissoo were a more durable wood than it is sup- 

 posed to be, it would be the most valuable wood in the coun- 

 try. It is very strong, requiring a mean of 1102 lb. to break 

 it, is very elastic, and has a specific gravity nearly the same 

 as Teak, 724. The timber is seldom straight, and is there- 

 fore not well adapted for beams, but is much employed for 

 furniture, ship-building, and other purposes, where curved 



