Description of the Woods in the Collection. 45 



44. NOT IDENTIFIED, but from comparison with Berkhout's 



Specimen, I think it is GOUPIA GLABRA. AUBL. 



Nat. Ord., CELASTRINE^E. 



The same wood as that described by Martin-Lavigne (20e), 

 p. 91, but he shows no proof that it is correctly named. 



Alternative Names. ' Kabukalli " (2) ; " Koepie " (3) ; 

 "Copie" (106); " Kopie " (4a). (?) Coupi, Couepi. Not 

 " Kwepi" (20c). 



Salient Features. A wood with a revolting smell, brown, 

 reddish-brown or grey in colour, heavy and hard. 



Physical Characters. Weight (so far recorded), 52f-56J Ibs. 

 per cubic ft. Hardness, Grade 3, very hard. Smell abominable; 

 compare Mark Twain's description of Limburger cheese. Taste 

 very offensive, though not cheese-like. Heartwood darkens but 

 little on exposure to the air; surface dull. Sapwood, greyish- 

 white to yellowish-white; width (?). 



Bark. About J in. thick, smooth or lightly wrinkled, crumb- 

 ling. Surface of log beneath Bark, smooth. 



Uses, Qualities, etc. "Planking in punt bottoms, railway- 

 sleepers. Readily procurable in logs up to 60 ft. in length, and 

 squaring from 12-16 ins. The Indians prefer canoes 'made of 

 this wood to any other, as they will not split from exposure to the 

 sun " (2). Saws easily though hard; fissile, takes nails badly; 

 planes well ; turns hard and badly ; polishes badly. Specimen is 

 of inferior quality. Better grades are difficult to split, hard to 

 saw and extremely difficult to plane to a smooth surface. It may 

 be of use for export for sleepers, paving blocks and similar pur- 

 poses. Rarely confused with any other wood. 



Authorities. 2. Bell, p. 6. 3. Berkhout, p. 25. 4a. Boulger, 

 p. 424. 12. Hawtayne, p. 384. 17. Laslett, p. 452. Martin- 

 Lavigne (20c), p. 120. 



ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS. 



Transverse Section: 



Pores. Visible to the unaided eye as pin-holes ; some variation 

 in size and increasing rapidly and largely as the tree ages. Evenly 

 distributed, scattered over the whole section. (They appear to 

 increase in size towards the close of the season's growth indepen- 

 dently of the general increase.) 



Eays. Visible with the lens, very fine, uniform, regular, much 

 less than the width of a Pore apart, crowded, widely avoiding 

 the Pores. 



Rings. Ill-defined; boundary doubtful. There is a change 

 from time to time, but this scarcely seems to indicate the close of 

 the season's growth ; contour regular. 



Soft Tissue sheathing the Pores. In one specimen I have seen 

 indications of wings to the Pores as though they were remains of 

 concentric lines connecting them. 



