PREFACE. 



XI 



for practical reasons. As the specimens were cut in the forest in 

 the form of short drums, they naturally split in drying, and in most 

 cases arrived full of minute fissures. Specimens preserve their con- 

 dition better when cut or split into sectors or billets, three or four 

 feet long; and they are also then more easily transported. 



The arrangement of the pores (vessels), soft tissue (wood 

 parenchyma), and the appearance of the rays (medullary rays) 

 have often great systematic value, i.e., a family likeness, often 

 obvious, is frequently to be observed. The similarity between 

 species belonging to the Natural Order Leguminosae will be evident 

 when the examples here described are compared. Equally striking 

 is the resemblance between woods of the Sapotacese and of the genus 

 Lecythis, which may be recognised at a glance. The same may be 

 said of many other orders and genera which are not sufficiently 

 well represented here to need special mention. 



Each species in this collection, even if it be not systematically 

 identified, is described with sufficient accuracy to enable a student 

 to recognise it, hence we hope that this report will afford a basis 

 for the completion of the work. 



THE AUTHORS. 



