TREES OF THE TROPICAL FOREST. 135 



This tree gives a most valuable timber, as also does 

 another called the cog- wood ; and another, the bullet 

 tree, the wood of which is dense and hard, has an 

 edible fruit, and from it exudes a milky juice which 

 possesses the properties of gutta-percha. 



Another lofty tree of great girth is the mastic, 

 with its dense yellow wood. One of the largest of 

 the forest trees is the locust, with towering top and 

 spreading branches. Its wood is hard and compact, 

 and is made into tables and sideboards. The fiddle- 

 wood yields a dark-colored timber; and the fustic, 

 besides giving us the well-known dye, has qualities 

 which render it valuable as a timber tree, being large 

 and durable. 



The cypresses are of two kinds, the white, which 

 has a wood light and sweet smelling, and the black, 

 which is very dark. Then there is the horseflesh, 

 with purple wood, and the purple-heart itself, with 

 delicate streaks of purple throughout a body of white. 

 The crabwood is another great tree, with dark-brown 

 wood, its name, it is said, being a corruption of the 

 Carib " carapP 



A beautiful hard wood is obtained from the yel- 

 low prickle, and a yellow from the yellow sanders, 

 which also yields a noted dye of commerce. The 

 rosewood is found here, but not in great quantity, 

 and perhaps the mahogany; but the most useful of 

 them all is the great cedar (Cedrala odorata\ the 

 wood of which is red in color, easily worked and 

 aromatic. All the world knows of the uses to which 

 it is put, in the manufacture of cigar boxes, chests 



