450 
bia University. Secretaries of Sections: B, Prof. 
George W. Stewart, State University of Iowa; 
C, Prof. J. Kendall, Columbia University; E, 
Prof. R. T. Chamberlin, Chicago; K, Dr. A. J. 
Goldfarb, New York. 
RESEARCH IN TIMBER. 
N an address! to the Timber Trade Federation, 
delivered in October last, Prof. Percy Groom 
showed that the lack of co-operation in the past 
between technical science and the timber trade of 
this country had resulted in the timber resources 
of the Colonies and India not being efficiently 
utilised. The British Empire includes within its 
bounds a larger number and wider range of 
timbers than any other State; but many of these 
are imperfectly known, and on that account not 
in commercial use. Prof. Groom instanced many 
examples of the need for scientific research in 
timber. Wood-pulp, the import of which into the 
United Kingdom was valued at 5,500,000l. in 
1913, is obtained at present mainly from spruce 
growing in foreign countries. In all probability 
it could be manufactured as cheaply from the 
soft woods, valueless as timber, which grow 
abundantly in the forests of our tropical posses- 
sions; and an investigation into this problem is 
most desirable. The hard woods of the tropics, 
owing to the loose nomenclature and wrong 
naming of many species, are less sought for than 
they deserve by architects, railway companies, 
and other large consumers of strong durable wood. 
The African mahoganies, for example, comprise a 
large series of different woods, varying widely in 
colour, hardness, and other qualities; and the 
identification and standardisation of these and 
other tropical woods should be the subject of pro- 
longed scientific investigation. Some woods of 
great merit show defects in ordinary use which 
might be remedied by experiments in the labora- 
tory, an interesting example being the Indo- 
Malayan Yang wood? (Dipterocarpus sp.), which 
had been introduced into England as a substitute 
for teak, but was found to warp badly and exude 
a resin, injuring its utility and appearance. Ex- 
periments carried out at the Imperial Institute 
resulted in the discovery of a simple cure for 
these defects, and the wood has been reinstated 
into favour. 
Prof. Groom referred to a promising line of in- 
vestigation, the economic utilisation of waste 
products which, in the form of slabs, shavings, 
and sawdust, are produced in great quantity in all 
conversion of wood. Every particle of wood is 
either a source of power, as when used for fuel, 
or can be transformed into a variety of valuable 
substances, as in the manufacture of explosives 
like cordite and acetone; of antiseptics, as 
creosote and carbolic acid; of alcohol, acetic acid, 
celluloid, collodion, artificial silk, etc. The 
chemical utilisation of wood lends itself especially 
to co-operative efforts in large towns; and some 
1 Timber Trades Journal, October 7, PP, 565-7". 
2 Percy Groom, ‘Shrinkage, Swelling, and Warping of Cross-grained 
Woods,” Ann. Applied Biology, vol. iii., No. 1, June, 1916. 
NO. 2467, VOL. 98] 
NATURE 
[FreBRuARY 8, 1917 ~ 
improved method of distillation may. solve the 
problems of dealing profitably with coppice-woods 
in England, and with forests in the tropics which 
consist mainly of trees producing unmarketable 
timbers. 
Another important problem, not yet attacked in 
this country, is the economical application of pre- — 
servatives and antiseptics to mining timber, the 
life of which in the pits might in many cases be 
prolonged from three to thirteen years, if recent 
experiments in the United States are to be trusted. 
In any case, there is a possibility of a large 
saving in the cost of raising coal by improved 
sanitation and appropriate treatment of wood in 
mines.® 
As a practical scheme for linking up technical 
science with the timber trade and its dependent 
industries in this country, Prof. Groom advocates 
the establishment of an Imperial Timber Bureaw 
in London, which would be in close touch with 
the Colonies and Dominions. It would supply 
technical advice, conduct investigations, and 
diffuse information amongst the trades and pro- 
fessions that handle wood. To the bureau would 
be attached an institute with timber, chemical, 
physical, engineering, and fuel laboratories, as 
well as workshops. Though not mentioned. by 
Prof. Groom, it is almost precisely on these lines 
that investigation in timber on a large scale has. 
been successfully carried on for some time by 
the Products Branch of the United States Forest 
Service. Some account of the working of this 
department will be of interest. It consists of two 
sections, the Office of Wood Utilisation at 
Chicago, and the Forest Products Laboratory at 
Madison. 
The Chicago office serves mainly as a bureau 
for the collection of information and statistics of 
production, consumption, utilisation, etc.; but it 
also deals with problems not requiring the aid 
of a laboratory; for example, by inducing manu- 
facturers to undertake experiments of various 
kinds. This office publishes reports on the wood- 
using industries in each State, which are com- 
piled with the aid of owners of timber, merchants, 
manufacturers, railway companies, and other 
consumers of wood, including certain Government 
departments. Much has also been done to 
eliminate waste by this office suggesting possible 
uses for material that had formerly been burnt 
to get it out of the way. Mr. Burdon states 
that the economic value of co-operation between 
the wood-using industries in the United States 
and the Forest Service Utilisation Office cannot 
be over-estimated, as the confidence reposed in 
the latter by the timber trade is remarkable. 
The Forest Products Laboratory at Madison is 
staffed and equipped by the Forest Service in 
co-operation with the University of Wisconsin, 
which provided the buildings at a cost of 
55,000 dollars in 1910. It is planned for research 
work on a semi-commercial scale, and has a large 
3 Percy Groom, “Pit Timber and its Preservation,” Trans. Inst. Mining. 
Engineers, vol. li., part ti., pp. 190-203. cate ;. 
4 Se U.S. Dept. Agric. “Review of Forest Service Investigations,” vol. i., 
pp. 17-28 (1913); and E. R. Burdon in Journ. R. Soc. Arts, vol. Ixi.,, 
PP. 438-446 (1913). 
