CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 85 



spruce {Picea excelsa) and yellow pine {Pinus Strohus). The grain is 

 very smooth and silky. The principal use of silver fir in this country 

 before the war was for the sounding boards (belly boards) of pianos 

 and violins. 



Freijo. Source unknown. Weight, 46 lbs. 4 oz. Brazil. 



This wood is somewhat like a shghtly darker and heavier serayah, 

 and is of a dull brick-red colour. It is very Hable to split and would 

 probably not be of sufficient value for export. 



The medullary rays are very clearly defined and can be seen with the 

 naked eye, very close and parallel, showing on the quarter in strong 

 large, regular, oblong patches unHke any other wood. The pores are 

 irregularly distributed and are not very large. 



Furniture Wood. Species unknown. Weight, 48 lbs. i oz. West 

 Coast of Africa. 



Many very different varieties of hardwoods have from time to time 

 been brought to England, and for want of more accurate information have 

 been called by the term " furniture wood." There has been such a great 

 divergence of quality and appearance that it is difiicult to know exactly 

 the best manner of treating the timbers. Among these supplies, however, 

 has been found one handsome and valuable variety that so nearly re- 

 sembles in all respects AustraUan blackwood {Acacia Melanoxylon) 

 that it suggests the theory that it is the same tree. The weight of my 

 sample is exactly the same as one of the specimens of blackwood, while 

 the colour and general appearance are also similar. There are the same 

 dark gummy streaks and the same bright metallic lustre. It is only 

 when the section end is examined with a magnifying glass that any 

 apparent difference is manifested. 



The annual layers of growth are clearly defined by thin light-coloured 

 streaks, and the open pores are so eventy distributed that they would 

 almost give the impression that they were artificial. The medullary 

 rays are fine, parallel, very close and regular. 



Gangaw. Mesua ferrea.lAnn. Weight, 70 lbs. (Troup). India. 



The above is the native Burmese name of the wood ; it is also called 

 iron-wood, and Indian rose-chestnut. A few logs of good size and quality 

 have come to England. The wood is of a bright rose-red colour. Gamble 

 says : " The timber is very strong, hard and heavy, and it is just its 

 weight and hardness, and the difficulty of extracting it from the forest 

 and converting it that leads to its comparatively little use. It gives 

 good sleepers, as good as those of pyinkado, but the cost of extraction, 

 conversion, and freight is so great as to make its extended use unlikely. 



