BRAZILWOOD. 



497 



to tliem the right of culling and sliipping hig- 

 wood, hut of erecting houses and magazines, 

 together with the jirivilege of a free fishery in 

 tlie adjacent seas, on tliat part of the coast of the 

 hay of Honduras, wliich was comprelicnded 

 between the river Wnllis on the soutli side, and 

 the Rio Nuevo on the Rio Hondo on the nortli 

 side, the sovereignty of tlie country still remain- 

 ing with Spain. The privileged settlers of Cam- 

 peachy of course treated the French as intruders, 

 and were forced again to contend for the right 

 of being undisputed wood hewers in a tropical 

 morass. 



The logwood-tree grows abundantly through- 

 out whole districts in Jamaica. Besides being 

 cultivated as a dye-wood it is used for other 

 purposes. It is found well adapted for making 

 strong full hedges, and is constantly planted for 

 this purpose, no other fences being seen in many 

 parts of the island. It is excellent for fuel, and, 

 according to Dampier, is advantageously used in 

 hardening or tempering steel. The wood of this 

 tree is very hard and heavy; it is of a deep 

 orange red colour ; it yields its colour both to 

 aqueous and spirituous menstrua?, but the latter 

 extracts it the most readily and copiously. A 

 decoction of this wood is of deep violet or 

 j>urple colour, which after a time changes to a 

 yellowish tint, and becomes finally black. Like 

 that of Brazil-wood it is made yellow Ijy acids, 

 and deepened by alkalis. Although an adjective 

 dye,* it can be made very durable by the judi- 

 cious application of mordants. With alum and 

 tartar it produces a violet dye. With acetate of 

 copper, a fine blue. But its principal use is in 

 dyeing black, to which it gives a superior lustre, 

 and in the production of all the different 

 shades of gray. It contains a large proportion 

 of gallic acid, whence it is that in combina- 

 tion with acetate of iron, the black colour is 

 produced. 



Logwood is imported into England in large 

 blocks, at the very small import duty of three 

 shillings per ton ; that brought from foreign 



* Dr Bancroft li.os made a distinction of dyeing sub- 

 stances into two kinds, substantim and adjective, and 

 tlins explains the reason for adopting these terms. 

 " Colouring m.atter seems to fall naturally under two 

 general classes ; the first including those matters which, 

 when put into a state of solution, may be permanently 

 fixed, and made fully to exhibit their colonrs in or 

 upon the dyed substance, without the interposition of 

 any earthy or metallic basis ; and the second compre- 

 hending all those matters which are incapable of being 

 fixed, and made to display their proper colours without 

 the mediation of some such basis. The colours of the 

 first class I shall denominate substantive, using the term 

 in the same sense in which it was employed by Bacon, 

 Lord Vcrulara, as denoting a thing solid by, or depend- 

 ing only upon, itself; and colours of the second ela.ss I 

 shall call (uljcctive, as implying that their lustre and 

 I)crmanency are acquired by adjection upon a suitable 

 basis." 



countries is chargealjle with fifty per cent, higher 

 duty. 



The average annual importation for the last 

 five years has been 14,092 tons. 



The average price for the best logwood during 

 that time has been £8. 10s. per ton. Logwood 

 is also occasionally used in medicine as an 

 astringent and tonic, and has been found effica- 

 cious in the cure of diarrhrea and dysentery. 



Brazilwood ( ccesalpinia ) . Natural family 

 leijuminosoe ; decandria, monogt/nia, of Linnseus. 

 There are several species of this family natives 

 of South America, and of the East and West 

 Indies. It was probably, however, first imported 

 into Europe from the Brazils, and hence the 

 name. Soon after its introduction the Portu- 

 guese government began to appreciate its value, 

 and accordingly it was made one of the objects of 

 royal monopoly, being imported into Europe on 

 account of the crown. From this circumstance it 

 is known in Brazil as pao de Rainha, or Queen's 

 wood. 



The ccesalpinia crista, or oval-leaved species, is 

 commonly found growing in dry rocky situa- 

 tions. Its trunk is large, crooked, and full of 

 knots; at a short distance from the ground 

 innumerable branches spring forth, and extend 

 in every direction in a straggling, irregular, and 

 unpleasing manner. Trees of the largest growth 

 attain to thirty or forty feet high, but they are 

 rarely met with of so great dimensions. The 

 branches are armed with short, strong, upright 

 tlioilis ; the leaves are small, and never appear 

 in luxuriant foliage. The flowers are of a 

 beautiful red colour, and emit a fragrant smell. 



When first cut, the wood is a pale red, but 

 becomes darker by exposure to air. It is varie- 

 gated with irregular and fantastical black spots, 

 which has obtained for it among the French tho 

 name ofbois de lettrcs. The bark of this tree, which 

 is extremely thick, and the white pithy part, are 

 both useless ; the heart being the only valuable 

 portion, and when both within and without are 

 cut away it is diminished to nearly half its bulk, 

 It is a very hard and dry wood. The thickest 

 pieces with a close grain are considered the best. 

 It is sometimes used in turnery, and susceptible 

 of a good polish, but its principal use is as a red 

 dye. The colour which it communicates is 

 however very fleeting. It is an adjective dye, 

 and generally applied in combination with a 

 mordant of alum and tartar, but with different 

 mordants it may be made to assume all the 

 shades allied to red. The most penuanent col- 

 ours produced from this dye arc those in which 

 the natural purple red is changed by acids to an 

 orange or yellow colour. Brazil-wood is often 

 used in dyeing silk of a crimson hue, but cannot 

 be made so durable as the cochineal crimson. 



Red ink is made of a decoction of this wood 

 in beer, wine, or vinegar, to which n portion 

 3 H 



