6 The Timbers of Biitish Guiana. 



Rays. Visible to the naked eye to good sight ; very fine ; 

 uniform; regular; about the width of a Pore apart. Weak, 

 slightly avoiding the Pores; light coloured. 



Rings. Ill-defined ; boundary doubtful ; contour regular. 



Soft Tissue of definite arrangement; type of Mimusops, i.e., 

 sheathing the pores and connecting them into the radial strings, 

 but in the present species not joining up into such long strings as in 

 Mimusops (See No. 12, Bullet Tree). Here the S.T. is more 

 usually a mere border to a group of 2-4 Pores. 



Pith.( ?) 



Radial Section. Similar in shade to the other sections, but 

 more lustrous. The Pores are fine scratches, containing shining 

 particles of gum. The Rays are whitish, transparent flakes, visible 

 by means of their lustre. 



Tangential Section as the Radial, but duller. The Rays need 

 the lens, being minute, whitish lines that are scarcely perceptible ; 

 height about '25 m/m. 



Type Specimen. Authenticated by Bell, No. 5/2661. 



6. NOT IDENTIFIED. 



Xat. Ore?., LEGUMINOS.E, near ROBINIA AND SWARTZIA. 

 Native name, " BANIA " (2). 



Salient Features. A hard, heavy, deep purple wood. 



1'hi/sical Characters. Weight (so far recorded), 77 to 84J Ibs. 

 per cubic ft. Sinks in water even when seasoned. Hardness, 

 Grade 2, extremely hard; compare Boxwood, Greenheart. Smell 

 when dry 0. Taste 0. Colour of Heartwood, uniform dark purple. 

 Darkens but little on exposure to the air. Colour of Sapwood, 

 " Oatmeal," sharply defined from the Heartwood; width 1-U ins. 

 Surface bright. 



Bark. About 1 1 ff in. thick, brown, soft and corky with shallow 

 cracks; scaling in soft, flat, crumbling scales (the outer layer). 

 Inner layer about half the whole thickness ; firm and woody. 



Uses, Qualities, etc. " Suitable for walking-sticks, rulers, and 

 small furniture. It is not common. Can be got in lengths up 

 to 30 ft., but the stem, being fluted, in only small sizes " (2). Ex- 

 ceedingly hard to saw ; too hard for nails ; planes hard and badly ; 

 turns hard and indifferently, and takes a mediocre finish. A 

 valuable wood nevertheless for turnery, inlaying and Tunbridge- 

 ware. Sometimes confused with Wamara on account of the great 

 similarity of colour, weight, hardness and structure. The re- 

 semblance is very marked. 



Authorities. 2. Bell, p. 3. 



ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS. 



Almost identically the same as those of Wamara, No. 92, from 

 which it is practically indistinguishable. Thf> only difference that 



