324 WOODS OF COMMERCE. 



naves and felloes of gun-carriages, and in Calcutta largely as fire- 

 wood, and yielding gunpowder charcoal of the best quality. 

 The close-allied H. littordlis Dryand. is a native of East Africa, 

 the Mauritius, Burma and Queensland, where it is known as 

 "Red Mangrove." It is the "Looking-glass tree" of English 

 gardeners. It yields timber 30 ft. long and 2 ft. in diam. W 102 

 when wet, 65 when dry. Dark-coloured, scented, firm, very 

 tough, durable. Used in boat-building, for handles, gunstocks. 

 planking and packing-cases. 



Sycamore, a name that has been singularly and variously 

 misapplied. Belonging originally to the Fig-mulberry of the 

 Levant (Ficus Sylcomfous L. : Order Mordcece), a shade-tree yielding 

 a very strong wood used for Egyptian mummy-cases, it is applied 

 in England to the Great Maple (Acer Pseudo-platanm L. : 

 Order Acerfnece.) Central Europe and Western Asia, almost 

 naturalised in Britain. Known in the South of Scotland as 

 "Plane." French "Grand Erable, Erable blanc de montagne, 

 Fausse platane." Germ. "Bergahorn." Height 4060 ft.; 

 diam. 13 ft. W 64 when newly cut, 4836 when dry. 

 Without distinct heartwood, white, when young, becoming 

 yellowish with age, or slightly brown in the centre, often 

 beautifully figured, the fine but distinct pith-rays having a 

 satiny lustre, which distinguishes it from Linden wood, com- 

 pact, firm neither very heavy nor hard, fine-grained, tough, 

 splitting evenly but with difficulty, easily worked, susceptible 

 of a high polish, cracking and warping somewhat in seasoning 

 and shrinking one-twelfth of its bulk, very durable if kept dry, 

 and generally free from insect-attack ; rings marked by fine 

 evenly-circular lines ; vessels indistinct, evenly distributed. 

 Highly esteemed on the Continent by turners, cabinet-makers, 

 carvers and toymakers, the figured wood being used for violins. 

 Formerly much used for platters and spoons, it is still largely 

 manufactured at Glasgow and elsewhere into bread-platters, 

 butter-dishes and moulds and is also in demand for bobbins, 

 reels, coach-panels, cutting-boards for shoemakers, shop-boards 

 for butchers, and wooden type. Large wood is sought after for 



