

AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 57 



is greatly appreciated in all kinds of constructions. It has the property of becom- 

 ing petrified upon exposure to the air, sand, or water. 



The bark possesses coloring material, and several different dyes are made from it. 

 Specific gravity, 1.072. 



The palo borracho (Chorisia insignes}, a very singular tree,* with a swollen, oval- 

 shaped trunk, covered with blunt, quadrangular thorns, digitated leaves, large 

 white flowers, and the fruit full of a species of white cotton of little coherent 

 fibers, used for making cloth, lampwick, etc. The form of this tree is one of the 

 most singular to be seen in the country. 



The urundey, a species of bignoniacecv, a very abundant tree, and produces a most 

 excellent wood. It is imperishable, polishes exquisitely, and makes beautiful furni- 

 ture. There are two kinds: the black with white veins, and the white with jasper, 

 black, and yellow veins; thus producing a very unique veneering. The wood is 

 used for joists, pillars, columns, and ship-timbers, and is the best timber known for 

 railway ties and sleepers; also excellent for axletrees on account of its resistance 

 and inflexibility. The tree reaches the height of 100 feet and a diameter of 8 feet. 

 Its leaves are lanceolated, and its bark, which is not very thick, is preferred for 

 tanning hides. Owing to the difficulty of transporting them, the lumbermen do 

 not fell the largest trees. Specific gravity, 1.092. 



Palo bianco, a large tree whose wood is of a straw color, whereas the bark is 

 whitish. In spite of its great height and circumference large timber cannot be 

 procured from it, for the reason that the trunk is deeply fluted, having somewhat 

 the appearance of a Corinthian column. Its wood is very highly grained, and 

 resists friction with such persistence that it is considered the very best material for 

 ship-blocks. The wood is aromatic and similar to mahogany in its color and quality. 

 Specific gravity, 1.010. 



The titans', of which there are two varieties, the white and the yellow ; much used 

 in the construction of line furniture. The bark possesses a piquant juice. The 

 tree attains to the height of about 50 feet and is about 1 to 3 feet in diameter. The 

 wood, which polishes beautifully, has the advantage that it neither swells nor 

 shrinks according to the state of the temperature. Specific gravity, 0.650. 



The cibil (Pipldaemia eibil). There are several varieties of these acacias, the 

 white, the red, etc., all of which, though found elsewhere, reach to large propor- 

 tions in the subtropical forests, attaining a height of 40 feet and a diameter of 2 

 feet. The bark is rich in tannin and is in great demand for that purpose. The 

 wood is very hard and takes a lustrous polish. Specific gravity, 0.854 to 0.956. 



The espinilJo (Acacia cavenia), a different tree from the shrub of the south, but a 



* Proceeding over some low hills, a very peculiar looking tree presented itself, 

 which the natives call palo borracho (drunken tree), but the Indians call yuchen, 

 standing about 50 feet high and spreading from the crown branches covered with 

 digitated leaves, dotted here and there with large white flowers whose naked stems 

 before branching expand into one immense egg-shaped form fully 20 feet in height 

 and 24 feet in circumference, sounding hollow when struck, and whose bark is cov- 

 ered with hard, short, quadrangular, blunt spines. The specimen I here saw was 

 certainly full grown, and this remarkable tree is only found on elevated, rocky 

 ground. The inhabitants of this province (Catamarca) and Santiago, scoop out the 

 spongy center and use the hollow barrel-like stem as a storehouse, whilst in some 

 parts of South America the stems are cut in half, and form capacious Dutch-like 

 canoes. The seed-pods, likewise of egg shape, and about the size of the human fist, 

 contain abundance of cottony fibrous down, from which are manufactured cloth, 

 candlewick, and pillows, which latter, besides being delicately soft and springy, 

 have proved beneficial to consumptive patients. When they get matted, exposure 

 to the sun soon renders them once more puffy and elastic. (Cameos from the Silver 

 Laud, by Ernest William White, F. Z. S. London, 1882.) 



