24 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



of brown tinted with red, and marked with dark wavy rings which, 

 though concentric, are wholly independent of the annual rings. The 

 sap-wood is of a creamy-white color. 



The wood naturally warps and twists badly in drying, but this objec- 

 tion is largely overcome by steaming it thoroughly immediately after 

 sawing, and then drying. Specific Gravity, 0.5909; Percentage of Ash, 0.61 ; 

 Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.5873; Coefficient of Elasticity, 86388; 

 Modulus of Rupture, 651 ; Resistance to Longitudinal Pressure, 466 ; 

 Resistance to Indentation, 132 ; Weight of a Cubic Foot in Pounds, 36.82. 



USES. A very important wood in the manufacture of wooden-ware 

 and in certain sections for shingles, clap-boards, paving-blocks, etc. It 

 is also being largely used of late in the manufacture of furniture and for 

 interior finishing. 



As an ornamental tree it is of high value, having many attributes which 

 strongly commend it. 



The exudation of the tree is said to be used to some considerable ex- 

 tent in the preparation of chewing gum and as a perfume for the breath. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES. The juice is used as a stimulating expec- 

 torant, for catarrhal affections and in the preparation of excitant oint- 

 ments, and a syrup made from the bark is used in the Western States 

 with great advantage in the treatment of dysentery, etc., especially in 

 children.* 



It might be added that the storax of commerce is mainly, if not ex- 

 clusively, the product of the allied Liquidambdr Orientalis, Mill., a tree 

 of Asia Minor. The medicinal properties are practically the same as 

 above indicated. 



ORDEE EBENACE.ffJ: EBONY FAMILY. 



Leaves alternate, extipulate, coriaceous, entire. Flowers dioecious or polygamous, 

 regular and axillary; calyx free, 3-7-cleft with divisions nearly equal and persistent; 

 corolla 3-7-cleft, mostly pubescent; stamens 2-4 times as many as the lobes of the 

 corolla, anthers turned inward; ovary 3-12-celled with 1 or 2 seeds suspended from 

 the summit of each cell; styles distinct or united and stigmas as many as the cells of 

 the ovary. Fruit a fleshy roundish berry with large flat anatropous seeds, with 

 smooth coriaceous integument, abundant albumen and foliaceous cotyledons. 



Trees and shrubs with juice not milky and usually hard, dark-colored heart wood. 

 The ebony of commerce is a product of this order, coming from several trees mainly 

 of tropical Asia and Africa, that from the Diospyros reticulata of the island of 

 Mauritius bsing considered the best. 



GENUS DIOSPYROS, L. 



Leaves as described for the order. Flowers dioeciously polygamous, axillary and 

 nearly sessile; calyx 4-6-lobed, tubular or campanulate, convolute in the bud; the 

 sterile flowers often clustered, with commonly 16 stamens (but sometimes 8 or more 

 than 16); filaments short, ovary abortive; the fertile flowers larger and solitary, with 

 8 imperfect stamens; style 2-4-cleft. Fruit a large, globose berry with persistent, 

 thickish calyx at the base and containing mostly 8 (4-12) seeds, one in each cell. 



*U. S. Dispensatory, 16th ed., pp. 1431, 1843-4. 



