314 WOODS OF COMMERCE. 



" Cotton- varay " of Coromandel. Moderate sized tree. Dark 

 brown to almost black, mottled, very heavy and hard, capable of 

 a good polish. Valued for furniture and for house and boat- 

 building. 



Sissoo (Dalbergia Sissdo Roxb. : Order Legumindsce). Northern 

 India. A large tree, 15 feet to its lowest branch, 1 J ft. in diam., 

 yielding logs 10 15 ft. long. Greyish-brown, with dark longi- 

 tudinal veins, very heavy, hard, close and even in grain, strong, 

 elastic, seasoning well without warping or splitting, durable. 

 One of the most valuable of Indian timbers, rapid in growth, 

 sometimes almost as beautiful as Rosewood. Unrivalled for the 

 naves and felloes of wheels, frames of carriages, boat-building, 

 agricultural implements and furniture. Once extensively used 

 for the wheels of gun-carriages ; but not now plentiful. 



Snakewood, in India, the wood of Strychnos colubrina L. and 

 S. nux-vdmica L. (Order Loganidcece). The former is a climbing- 

 plant 8 12 in. in diam. ; light grey, hard and intensely bitter; 

 the latter a tree reaching 15 ft. or 20 ft. to its lowest branch and 

 3 ft. in diam. S.G. 706. W 52. White, or ash-colour, hard, 

 close-grained, strong, very bitter. Used for ploughshares and 

 cart-wheels in Travancore. Hind. "Kuchila." Telugu "Naga- 

 musada." Portuguese "Pao-de-cobra." French "Bois de cou- 

 leuvre." The crooked and intensely bitter roots of Ophiorrhiza 

 Murigos L. (Order Cinchondcece), a native of the Sunda Islands, 

 and the twisted climbing stems of Rauwdlfia serpentina Benth. = 

 Ophidxylon serpentinum L. : Order Apocyndcece), a native of the 

 Malay archipelago, have also the same name. In the West 

 Indies Colubrina reclindta Brongn. and C. ferruginosa Brongn. 

 (Order Rhamndcece), from their twisted roots bear also the same 

 English and French names, though known also as "West Indian 

 Greenheart" or "Ironwood." Whilst all these woods get their 

 names from their form or taste suggesting their use as remedies 

 for snake-bite, the beautifully mottled Snakewood of British 

 Guiana is Brosimum AubUtii. See Leopard or Letter-wood. 



Sneeze-wood (Pterdxylon utiU Eck. and Z. : Order Sapinddcew). 

 South Africa. Boer "Neishout." Zulu "Umtati." Height 



