672 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cense wood in Malay and China. The roots of a legumi- 

 nous plant related to the rosewood, produces a low grade 

 incense wood called kayu laka in the Malay region. In 

 some parts of the Himalayas and in the Khasia Hills the 

 yew tree is called deodar (God's tree), the name that 

 is elsewhere applied to a true cedar. The wood of the 

 yew is burnt as incense as is also that of the cypress. 

 One of the favorite woods for incense in the Buddhist 

 temples of India is the juniper. In parts of South Amer- 

 ica a wood closely related to the lignum-vitae is, called 

 palo santo (sacred wood), because of its use for incense 

 in churches. 



There are numerous curious or superstitious beliefs 

 regarding fragrant woods. The Burmese have a super- 

 stition that beams of balances should he made of the 

 Thitman or prince of woods (Podocarpus neriifolia)^ 



while a peg of it driven into a house post or boats will 

 avert evil. The Shinto temples are always constructed 

 from the wood of the Japanese aborvitae or hinoki 

 tree. Water pails and other vessels made of our southern 

 white cedar were long held to have a wholesome effect 

 on the contents because of supposed medicinal properties 

 of the wood. It was even believed that water issuing 

 from . a white cedar spigot had its healthfulness in- 

 creased.. The northwestern Indians nearly always made 

 their totem poles out of western red cedar, but. this 

 choice was probably due more to the fact that the 

 wood, 'is easy to work and extremely durable rather 

 than to its fragrance. It may be taken as a very good 

 -general rule that woods that are scented are resistant 

 to decay and insect attack, and have good cabinet 

 qualities. 



A REMARKABLE SPECIMEN OF QUARTERED WHITE OAK 



This very unusual photograph was taken of .a section of partially decayed wood from an old white oak 

 stump and shows, better than he has ever seen it, the structure of oak wood, writes George N. Lamb, secre- 

 tary of the American Walnut Manufacturers Association, from Chicago. The surface shown is a radial 

 section, as is the cut of "quarter sawed" wood. The medullary rays that make the "flake" in quarter 

 sawed oak are here shown as upright bands or ribbons of various widths that extend from center to 

 bark in ripples or waves. The above specimen shows this characteristic structure almost better than 

 would a diagramatic drawing. In this case, at least, the rays proved to be harder and more durable 

 than the rest of the wood. 



