172 WOODS OF COMMERCE. 



Bois Riviere. See Water-wood. 

 Bois Violet. See Purple-heart. 



Bolongnita (Diospyros pilosdnthera Bl. : Order Ebendcece). 

 Philippines. 



Bottle-brush, Red (Cdllist&mon lanceoldtus DC. : Order 

 Myrtdcece). " Water Gum/' Aborig. " Marum." Eastern 

 Australia. Height 3040 ft. ; diam. 1 1J ft. Hard, heavy. 

 Used for mallets, in ship-building and wheelwrights' work. 



Bottle-brush, White (C. salignus DC.). "River or Broad- 

 leaved Tea-tree,'' " Stone-wood," "River Oak," Aborig. "Unoyie, 

 Humbah." Eastern Australia. Height 40 50ft. ; diam. H 2 

 ft. S.G-. 983. W57 61. Drab to dark red, sometimes prettily- 

 grained, very hard, close-grained, fairly easy to work, and said to 

 be very durable underground. 



Bow-wood. See Osage-Orange. 



Box (Buxus sempervirens L. : Order Euplwrbidcece). French 

 "Bois commun," "Bois beni," Germ. "Buchsbaum." Northern 

 and Western Asia, North Africa, and Central and Southern 

 Europe. Height 830 ft.; diam. small. S.G. 950980. 

 W 80 '5 68*75. Light yellow, very homogeneous, almost horn- 

 like, neither rings, pith-rays, nor vessels being distinct, hard, 

 heavy, firm, free from heart-shake, difficult to split, but works up 

 smoothly, with a slight silky lustre and is durable, when 

 thoroughly seasoned. "Boxwood is very apt to split in drying; 

 and to prevent this, the French turners put the wood designed 

 for their finest work into a dark cellar as soon as it is cut, where 

 they keep it from three to five years. . . . They strike off the 

 sapwood with a hatchet, and place the hardwood again in the 

 cellar till it is wanted for the lathe. For the most delicate 

 articles, the wood is soaked for twenty-four hours in fresh 

 very clear water, and then boiled for some time. When taken 

 out of the boiling water, it is wiped perfectly dry and buried, 

 till wanted for use, in sand or bran." Compared for closeness 

 of grain to Ebony by Theophrastus, used by the Romans for 

 veneers and flutes, Virgil mentions the Box as used by the 

 turner : 



