SATIN-WALNUT 



much disputed " (100). "Warps and twists badly if not steamed 

 immediately after sawing into planks" (49). " Not strong, rather 

 tough, compact, its great economic value is scarcely appreciated 

 on account of the difficulty experienced in perfectly seasoning 

 it. Inclined to shrink and warp badly in seasoning, susceptible 

 of a beautiful polish : building timbers, plates, boarding and 

 clap-boards, cabinet-making, veneering and street-paving " (100). 

 Very resilient and withstands traffic well from that reason, 

 equalling even much harder woods: silent and smooth but 

 extremely perishable from decay, creasoting being absolutely 

 essential if it is to be used for street-paving. Liable to crack 

 in the sun always more or less defective in the centre. In 

 bad repute in England owing to inferior wood being used without 

 creasoting, thus obscuring its many excellent qualities. Only 

 used for the commonest class of furniture. 



Authorities. Nordlinger (87). Hough (49), pt. iii. p. 24. 

 Sargent (100), No. 39. Lefroy (63). Boulger (17). 



Colour. Red or reddish-brown, excentric heart-wood well de- 

 fined from the cream-coloured or whitish sap-wood. Usually 

 marked with smoky streaks. Dull brown in inferior grades. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



Pores. Need lens, rather fine, size 4, little variation : evenly 

 crowded throughout the ring : in occasional groups of 2-3 or 

 apparently crowded into straggling lines : very numerous, 

 160-200 per sq. mm. : sometimes a few containing gum. 



Rays. Just visible in certain lights, medium, size 4, uniform : 

 straight, not avoiding the pores, a pore-width or less apart : 

 denser than the ground-tissue : numerous, 8-9 per mm. : rather 

 short, frequently tapering : brown. 



Rings. Clear, not prominent : boundary, a fine line or zone 

 of Autumn wood, sometimes very clear, at others difficult to see : 

 the smoky zones are independent of the rings : contour uneven. 



Soft-tissue. In many isolated cells. 



Flakes. Rare, long, narrow, yellow of a lighter colour than 

 the wood. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Innumerable, fine, shining lines, many con- 

 taining drops of gum. Rays inconspicuous, fine flakes of the 

 same colour as the ground-tissue. Rings rarely traceable, 

 though the smoky zones are frequently prominent. Flakes 

 appear as very fine lines. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the rays are im- 

 perceptible with lens: about 0*5 mm. high, not spindle-shaped, 

 but rather blunt. Very beautiful objects in the solid under the 

 microscope. The smoky zones widen out in this section. 



Type specimens authenticated by Hough. 



113 i 



