60 The Timbers of British Guiana. 



ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS. 



Transverse Section. A trifle darker than the other sections. 

 Pores. Just visible with the naked eye as holes; large, little 

 variation except in the groups. Evenly distributed; few and 

 widely separated; single or in pairs, the septa which divide them 

 often being Radial. 



Rays. Visible with the lens; uniform; irregular, much more 

 than the width of a Pore apart ; yellowish ; few ; not avoiding the 

 Pores. Brown in my specimen, which is, however, tainted witb 

 decay. 



Rings. Apparently defined under the lens; boundary (?) a 

 fine line of Soft Tissue; contour regular. 



Soft Tissue of definite arrangement; the supposed boundary line 

 also narrowly encircling the Pores. 



Pith.( ?) 



Radial Section. The Pores are coarse, brown scratches, darker 

 than the ground. The Rays are conspicuous, though small, flakes. 

 The Rings are not indicated. 



Tangential Section as the Radial, but the Rays need the lens, 

 being minute and about 1 m/m. high. 



Type Specimen. Authenticated by Bell, No. 59/2715. Aiken's 

 specimen, " Lana," No. 3026, is not this species. He names it 

 Genipa americana. 



60. BROSIMUM AUBLETTII. Sw. 

 Nat. Ord., URTICACE^E. 



Under this name a wood with a "White Heart " is described 

 by Aublett (1). It cannot have any connection with the present 

 species. 



Alternative Names. "Letter-wood, Snake-wood, Speckled 

 wood, Buro Koro, Burracurra (not Barrakarra), Paira, Leopard- 

 wood " (7); "Cangica (not Angica) " (1); " Pae Rainha de 

 Listras in Guiana and the Amazonas Region ; Gamelleira preta in 

 Pernambuco " (21); " Bois lezard, in the Leeward Islands, Gatia, 

 Gateado, in Brazil" (7); " Buchstabenholz, Tigerholz " (28); 

 " Letternholz, Lignum litteratum" (16); "Bois de Lettre a 

 grandes Feuilles " (6); "Bois de Lettre mouchete" (5); 

 "Brazil-wood" (9); "Muirapenima, Pao Tartarugo in Brazil" 

 (7); "Muskatholz" (20c). "Bois de lettres de Chine"; 

 " Piratiner " in Guyane Fr. (20c). Devenish mentions (16) some 

 of these names under the synonym of Brosimum guianense, and 

 Martin-Lavigne describes the same wood under the name of 

 Piratinera guianensis (20c). 



Salient Features. A dark brown or chocolate-coloured wood, 

 marked in a striking manner with small patches of rich nut-brown, 

 bearing a fanciful resemblance to the markings on a snake skin. 

 Hard, heavy and cold to the touch. 



Physical Characters. Weight (so far recorded), 77-83 Ibs. per 

 cubic ft. Hardness, Grade 1, excessively hard; compare Ebony. 



