SNAKE-WOOD 



Rings. Very prominent if indicated by the wavy lines : no 

 other boundary. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant in characteristic, conspicuous, con- 

 centric, wavy lines, size 2 (ray-scale), enclosing the pore-clusters 

 in festoons which are built up of radial lines of cells. 



Flecks. Probably present at times. My specimen shows a 

 large one about i by ^ inch, besides worm-holes. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Rather lighter and brighter than the Trans- 

 verse : pores rather prominent, rarely shining, being mostly filled 

 with thyloses. Rays inconspicuous, dull flakes, very small. Rings 

 appear as cloudy lines only, due to the soft-tissue. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the pores are obscured 

 by borders of soft-tissue. Rings, cloudy, whitish, hoary loops. 

 Soft- tissue very conspicuous. 



Type specimens from commercial sources : not authenticated 

 but checked by Nordlinger's section and by Miers' description. 

 A variety, C. tinctoria var. xanthoxylon (Madura xanthoxylon 

 Endl.) is darker and more valued. It is called Amoreira de 

 espinho branco, Palo narango and Bois d'orange (131). 



No. 178. SNAKE-WOOD. Brosimum Aubletti. Sw. 



PLATE XIII. FIG. 112. 



Natural Order. Urticaceae. 



Synonym. Piratinera guianensis. Aubl. 



Alternative Names. Letter-wood, Speckled- wood, Buro-Koro, 

 Burracurra, Paira, Leopard-wood (99). Cangica (not Angica), 

 Pae Rainha de listras in Guiana and the Amazonas region : Ga- 

 melleira preta in Pernambuco (76). Bois lezard in the Leeward 

 Isles ? (46). Gatia : Gateado in Brazil (99). Buchstabenholz, 

 Tigerholz (131). 



Source of Supply. Tropical America, chiefly British Guiana. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 77-83 Ibs. per 

 cu. ft. : sinks like stone in water. Hardness Grade I, compare 

 Ebony. Smell none. Taste faint but insipid. Burns very badly 

 with much crackling : embers glow in still air. Solution strong 

 reddish-brown. 



Grain. Moderately fine but close. Surface lustrous. 



Bark. " Blueish " (76). 



Uses, etc. Walking-sticks, inlaying, bows, etc. It is an ex- 

 tremely beautiful wood and takes a superb finish but it is already 

 rare and is becoming more so. The heart-wood only is used but 

 the sap-wood might be worth importing on its own account as it 

 is very wide and would be valuable in small pieces for the same 

 purposes as those for which Box-wood is used. 



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