SPI ( 128 ) 



Sole Bars. Longitudinal pieces of oak used in the framing of 

 railway wagons. Also known as " Main Tram Pieces." 



Solignum. A timber preservative, brown in colour, much used 

 for preserving timber from decay and insects. 



Sorting. Dividing lumber into its various qualities and dimen- 

 sions. 



Sound Merchantable. A loose general term more often applied 

 to logs than to sawn wood, and intended to include all logs 

 that it will pay to saw. 



Sound Wormy. Wood affected by worm holes, but otherwise 

 sound. Used in America as ground for veneering upon. 



Spade Tree. The handle of a spade. 



Spall or Spale. A term seldom met with. Applied to a shaving 

 or chip of wood wedgelike in shape. 



Spandrel. The irregular triangular space comprehended between 

 the outer curve or extrados of an arch, a horizontal line 

 drawn from its apex and a perpendicular line from its 

 springing. 



Spanish Chestnut. See " Sweet Chestnut." 



Spars. Mainly used as masts for ships. Also a small beam or 



rafter. In architecture, spars are the common rafters of a roof, 



as distinguished from the principal rafters. See "Rafters." 



Species (in Botany). Usually defined as a collection of indivi- 

 duals that are precisely alike in every character, not capable 

 of change by any accidental circumstance, and capable of 

 uniform, invariable and permanent continuance by natural 

 propagation. See " Genus " and " Natural Order." All 

 species have a tendency to form " varieties " (which see). 



Specification. (1 ) The document stating the sizes and particu- 

 lars of a number of pieces or cargo of wood. (2) The state- 

 ment of what is required, prepared by an architect .for the 

 guidance of a builder. 



Specific Gravity. The weight of wood is sometimes expressed 

 by a comparison of the weight of a given volume with that 

 of an equal volume of water, or by what is known as " speci- 

 fic gravity." If the specific gravity of a certain kind of 

 wood is stated to be '300, it means that a given volume of 

 this wood weighs '300 times as much as an equal volume of 

 water. Since a cubic foot of water weighs 6:2 '5 or 1,000 

 ounces, a cubic foot of wood of specific gravity of '300 

 weighs '300 x 62 '5 or 18*75 pounds. 



Spigots. See " Spiles." 



