INDIA, BUEMA, AND ANDAMAN ISLANDS 163 



strength 6*8 tons, coefficient of elasticity 780'7 tons 

 per square inch (Prof. Unwin, Impl. List. Journal, May, 

 1899). 



Weight 50 to 65 Ibs. per cubic foot. 



Cocoanut Tree (Cocas nucifera) is a large palm which 

 produces a very heavy and durable wood of a dark brown 

 colour traversed by longitudinal black seams, and with a 

 fine, dense, even grain. In India and the tropics it is 

 used for house posts, and, although it has very little 

 transverse strength, for rafters and ridge poles about 

 3 by 1 inches and up to 20 ft. long, it makes handsome 

 and durable furniture. In Europe it goes under the name 

 of " Porcupine wood." It is one of the fancy woods of 

 commerce, and is used for walking-sticks and also as a 

 veneer for small fancy articles. It is not hollow like so 

 many palms, and attains a height of 30 to 40 ft. and a 

 diameter of 1 to 2 ft. 



Weight 40 to 70 Ibs. per cubic foot. 



Calamander (Diospyros qufesita) is the most esteemed of 

 Ceylon woods, but is rare and realises a fancy price. It is 

 in appearance somewhat similar to the finest walnut, a 

 rich hazel brown colour mottled and striped with irregular 

 black marks, but it is superior to walnut in the extreme 

 closeness of its grain and richness of its colour. Like 

 ebony and satinwood, calamander is chiefly used for furni- 

 ture, cabinet work, turnery, and veneers. The medullary 

 rays are fine and equidistant. 



Weight 57 Ibs. per cubic foot. 



The Sal (Shorea robusta) is the most uniformly gregarious 

 of the trees of India, and in the forests where it grows is 

 always the prevailing tree ; it grows in the forests along 

 the Terai at the foot of the Himalayas, near Gaya, and in 



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