504 Forestry Quarterly. 



Quebracho Wood and Its Substitutes by Clayton D. Mell and 

 Warren D. Brush. Cir. 202, U. S. Forest Service, Washington, 

 D. C, pp. 12, pi. 2. 



"Quebracho (Quebrachia lorentsii Griseb.) a South American 

 wood yielding a very valuable extract much used in the United 

 States for tanning high-grade leathers, is not the only wood known 

 by the name. Two other and inferior species, Aspidosperma 

 quebracho-blancho Schlecht and Aspidosperma quebracho-colo- 

 rado Schlecht, are called white quebracho, or quebracho blancho', 

 and red quebracho, or 'quebracho Colorado', respectively. These 

 two, however, belong to an entirely different family. (Apocy- 

 naceae), including the common dogbane or Indian hemp, from 

 the true quebracho, which is a member of the sumac family (Ana^ 

 cardiaceae). The name quebracho is derived from two Portuguese 

 words 'quebrar,' meaning break, and 'hacha,' are an allusion to the 

 extreme hardness of the wood. At one time nearly every South 

 American wood that quickly dulled an ax was called quebracho, 

 but to-day the three woods mentioned are the only ones of com- 

 mercial importance to which the name is applied. This indis- 

 criminate use of the name quebracho naturally has resulted in 

 much confusion regarding the identity, distribution, and uses of 

 these woods, and the purpose of this circular is to give the uses 

 and distinguishing characteristics of each." 



The circular concludes with a key for the identification of que- 

 bracho wood and its substitutes, and two plates showing photo- 

 micrographs of transverse, tangential and radial sections of the 

 wood of quebracho and white quebracho. 



S. J. R. 



Quantity and Quality of Creosote Pound in Two Treated Piles 

 after Long Service. By E. Bateman. Cir. 199, Forest Products 

 Laboratory Series, U. S. Forest Service, Washington, D. C, 1912, 

 pp.8. 



"This circular gives the results of analyses of the quantity and 

 quality of creosote found in two treated piles after long servace. 

 The piles were of pine (probably longleaf), and had been in the 

 teredo-infested waters of the Gulf of Mexico for about 30 years. 



