TIMBERS AND WOODS 291 



several of them will sink in water even after cured and many 

 more are heavier than water in a green condition. To assume, 

 however, that mahogany, ebony, and lignum vitse are the really 

 important timbers of the Tropics would be as ridiculous as 

 to assert that black walnut, quartered oak, and curly maple 

 are the most important timbers of the United States. Trop- 

 ical timbers and woods are of great variety and of great im- 

 portance. The few species which are imported to Europe and 

 the United States give only the faintest idea of the extent and 

 variety of tropical timbers. 



At the outset it may be well to state that in the Tropics, just 

 as in northern climates, soft woods are of vastly wider extent 

 and importance than hard woods. 



The family Dipterocarpaceae furnishes the most important 

 timbers, especially in the Oriental Tropics. It is a large fam- 

 ily with numerous species of trees which are universally used 

 in tropical countries for general construction purposes. The 

 sal tree (Shorea robusta) occurs in immense areas of almost 

 pure stand in India. This tree is called guijo in the Philip- 

 pines. It furnishes a hard and moderately heavy wood, used 

 in ship building, houses, planks, carriages, and for numerous 

 miscellaneous purposes. The eng tree (Dipterocarpus grandi- 

 ftorus) of the Philippines, Borneo, and Malaya Peninsula, and 

 called apitong in the Philippines, furnishes a fairly hard and 

 heavy wood, used in heavy structural work, planks, railroad 

 ties, and many other purposes. The sal and eng are only 

 two examples chosen from the important trees of this family. 

 There are more than 100 species of Dipterocarpaceae which 

 are used commercially in the Oriental Tropics. 



The legume family is next in importance as a source of tim- 

 ber and wood and stands first in the production of woods for 

 furniture and ornamental purposes. These woods are often 

 highly colored and of good grain, and many of them are 

 widely used for building purposes and for structural work. 

 For example, Acacia catechu, besides yielding a cutch from 



