THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



patches of soft-tissue, difficult to make out in the transparent 

 section : mostly filled with resin. 



Rays. Difficult to see with lens in the solid, size 5-6 uniform : 

 equidistant, more than the width of a large pore apart : lack 

 contrast with the ground-tissue although much denser : many 

 about 5 per mm. : undulating, not avoiding the pores : long, 

 not often tapering. 



Rings. Doubtful : the occasionally fine lines which are of 

 denser wood (not soft-tissue) may indicate the boundaries of the 

 year's growth. 



Soft-tissue in small, irregular patches adjoining, but not sur- 

 rounding the pores. The small amount of this makes the pores 

 appear much smaller than those of other Copaiferae, whereas 

 they are much about the same size. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Lighter in shade than the transverse sec- 

 tion. The pores are fine but readily visible lines with much red 

 resin. The rays are visible in certain lights. The rings are doubt- 

 ful, and the soft-tissue is scarcely visible. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the pores appear 

 prominent on account of the number of their borders of soft- 

 tissue which are lighter than the ground-tissue. The rays need 

 the lens, being very minute lines about 0*5 mm. high. The rings 

 are a little plainer as the denser zones of pores make themselves 

 evident here and there. 



Type specimen from commercial sources, not authenticated, 

 but without doubt a Copaifera. 



No. 77. WALLABA. Eperua falcata. Aubl. 



PLATE VI. FIG. 48. 



Natural Order. Leguminosege. 



The E. falcata of Blanco = Afzelia rhomboidea of Vidal and 

 not the present species. 



Synonym. Pangera falcata. Willd. . 



So-urces of Supply. British Guiana : Brazil : Dominica. 



Alternative Names. Pois sabre : Wapa (78). Jebaru-rana : 

 Vouapa-tabaca : Bainha de Espada in Guiana (3) and the Ama- 

 zonas region (76) : Parive : Eperu in French Guiana (3). Wapa 

 huileux : Wapa Patouve in Brazil (99). 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry- weight 65 Ibs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 3, compare Blackthorn or Whitethorn. 

 Smell and taste like Oeasote. Burns noisily and badly, main- 

 tains a flame with difficulty but embers glow in still air. Solu- 

 tion with water faint-yellow : afterwards with alcohol, crimson. 



88 



