HOW TO DISTINGUISH THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WOOD. 



By B. E. Fernow and Filibert Roth. 



The carpenter or other artisan who handles different woods becomes 

 familiar with those he employs frequently, and learns to distinguish 

 them through this familiarity, without usually being able to state the 

 points of distinction. If a wood comes before him with which he is 

 not familiar, he has, of course, no means of determining what it is, 

 and it is possible to select pieces even of those with which he is well 

 acquainted, different in appearance from the general run, that will make 

 him doubtful as to their identification. Furthermore, he may distin- 

 guish between hard and soft pines, between oak and ash, or between 

 maple and birch, which are characteristically different; but when it 

 comes to distinguishing between the several species of pine or oak or 

 ash or birch, the absence of readily recognizable characters is such that 

 but few practitioners can be relied upon to do it. Hence, in the market 

 we find many species mixed and sold indiscriminately. 



To identify the different woods it is necessary to have a knowledge 

 of the definite, invariable differences in their structure, besides that of 

 the often variable differences in their appearance. These structural 

 differences may either be readily visible to the naked eye or with a 

 magnifier, or they may require a microscopical examination. In some 

 cases such an examination can not be dispensed with, if we would make 

 absolutely sure. There are instances, as in the pines, where even our 

 knowledge of the minute anatomical structure is not yet sufficient to 

 make a sure identification. 



In the following key an attempt has been made — the first, so far as we 

 know, in English literature — to give a synoptical view of the distinctive 

 features of the commoner woods of the United States, which are found 

 in the markets or are used in the arts. It will be observed that the 

 distinction has been carried in most instances no further than to genera 

 or classes of woods, since the distinction of species can hardly be accom- 

 plished without elaborate microscopic study, and also that, as far as 

 possible, reliance has been placed only on such characteristics as can 

 be distinguished with the naked eye or a simple magnifying glass, in 

 order to make the key useful to the largest number. Recourse has 

 also been taken for the same reason to the less reliable and more varia- 

 ble general external appearance, color, taste, smell, weight, etc. 



The user of the key must, however, realize that external appearance, 

 such, for example, as color, is not only very variable but also very dif- 

 ficult to describe, individual observers differing especially in seeing and 



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