THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



Radial Section. A shade lighter than the Transverse section, 

 with a trifle more lustre. Pores very prominent, being exposed 

 in numbers close together. Rays just visible in certain lights. 

 Rings indistinguishable. 



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

 ceptible with lens : fine lines about 0*3 mm. high. Pores pro- 

 minent but much less so than the radial in the radial section. 



Type specimen from commercial sources, unauthenticated. 



No. 212. QUEBRACHO. Species unknown. 



PLATE XV. FIG. 134. 1 



Alternative Names. Quiebrahacha or Break-axe : Iron-wood : 

 Axemaster. Quebracho Colorado (46). 



Source of Supply. (Tunas de Zazas.) 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 65-70 Ibs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade i, compare Ebony. Smell or 

 taste none. Burns well : embers glow in still air. Solution 

 with water the colour of the wood, but pale. 



Grain. Fine, close and dense. Surface bright. 



Bark. ? 



Uses, etc. Cabinet-making and other purposes where extreme 

 hardness is desirable. Easily confused with another wood 

 which passes under the same name, see No. 211 and also with 

 Jamaica Cogwood. 



Colour. Heart-wood red or dark red. Sap-wood. ? 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



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

 scattered, sometimes a narrow zone poor in pores : single or in 

 compact groups of from 2 to 10 pores : often filled with yellow 

 or ruby resin or gum. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5 to 6, uniform : equidistant : many, 

 8 to 10 per mm. : tapering both ends : lightly avoiding the pores 

 if at all : gently undulating : red or brown : scarcely as dense as 

 the ground-tissue. 



Rings. Doubtful : clear or not : sometimes a zone in the 

 outer part of the ring, which is poor in pores, at others a crowded 

 zone in the inner part or even a vague line of (apparently) soft- 

 tissue. 



Soft-tissue. Very little : in very narrow rings encircling the 

 pores or groups : very difficult to see in the solid. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Pores. Clear though small : rather darker 

 lines filled with resin. Rays, inconspicuous : very small flakes. 

 Rings, vague and rarely traceable. 



242 



