CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 71 



Degami-wood. Calycophyllum candidissimum, DC. Weight, 49 lbs. 

 (Boulger). West Indies. 



This wood is imported in straight, clean logs, with the bark on, 

 ranging from 10 to 20 feet in length and 4 to 8 inches in diameter. The 

 colour is yellowish-red, rather Uke lance-wood, though not so bright, or 

 like a dull West India boxwood. It is elastic, bends weU without breaking, 

 and bears considerable transverse strain. It is used for a great variety 

 of purposes and as a substitute for lance- wood. 



Ebony. Mainly species of Diospyros. 



The term ebony is usually applied to a black wood of great hardness, 

 hea\dness, and closeness of texture. The definition of ebony, however, 

 is rendered difficult by several facts. True ebonies aU belong to one 

 botanical family, Ehenaceae, but there are black woods that belong to 

 other families and yet \de with ebony in blackness, though differing 

 from it in other characteristics, such as hardness or structure. Among 

 such are African blackwood {q.v.) or Congo- wood, which in Germany is 

 often termed Senegal ebony, though such a custom is unjustifiable as 

 the wood in question is derived from the laburnxun family. Incidentally 

 it may be mentioned that certain woods, especially pear, are stained 

 black and used as substitutes for ebony. Again the name ebony is also 

 applied to woods that are not black. Among such the most familiar 

 perhaps is green ebony {q.v.), which is derived from various woods 

 belonging to diverse species. Moreover, woods which are true ebonies, 

 even those from the genus Diospyros, are not necessarily black. A 

 considerable amount of commercial ebony naturally shows a certain 

 brownness of shade, and in order to conceal this, manufacturers of 

 various articles blacken the wood with a stain. In fact it may be 

 said that ebony is not always as black as it is painted. In all species 

 of Diospyros the external wood is light coloured and is termed sap- 

 wood. In a number of the species the central portions of the wood 

 are more or less black. In some cases, such as D. Ehenum and D. Melan- 

 oxylon from India and Ceylon, this black wood forms a soUd central 

 core extending for a considerable distance along the trunk, but even in 

 these species the black wood is liable to be arranged in the form of thick 

 strands interrupted by light-coloured wood. In other ebonies the black 

 wood is always interspersed with patches or bands of lighter coloured — 

 Ught yellow to brown — wood: thus the marble-wood {D. Kurzii), from 

 the Andamans, which is black and light yellow in patches, deserves its 

 name, while Calamander wood {D. quaesita), of Ceylon, shows bands or 

 streaks of black and brown. StiU farther removed from blackness is the 

 wood of D. Chloroxylon (British India), which is termed " green ebony " 



