railroad ties. The wood which has been selected for this purpose 

 is the " Mora " of Venezuela and the adjacent regions, not that of 

 Central America. The botanical identity of this Venezuelan 

 Mora is not positive. I have collected it in the lower Orinoco 

 region, but not in a condition for specific identification. It is cer- 

 tainly a member of the Rosaceae and probably in the genus 

 Parinarium. A fine large trunk-section exists in the Economic 

 Museum of the New York Botanical Garden. It grows as a large 

 forest tree, sometimes very large indeed, being four or five feet 

 in diameter. Like most tropical trees, it grows scattering rather 

 than gregarious. The wood is extremely hard and heavy and 

 the bark thin and very smooth, considering the size of the tree, 

 there being very little Assuring or jDork-formation. The outer 

 color of the bark is of a medium to dark gray, mottled with 

 lighter patches. The wood cuts rather readily when fresh but 

 becomes exceedingly difficult to work after it is seasoned. In the 

 latter state it takes a somewhat purplish tinge, to which its name 

 " Mora" is due. It is not only hard, but tough and very durable. 

 It is due to the last-named property that its use has been decided 

 upon. It is said to endure for a period of fifty years. It is to be 

 remembered, however, that this durability record relates to a 

 tropical climate. It might be assumed that it could resist decay 

 even longer in a temperate region where certain influences are not 

 so active as in the tropics. Upon the other hand it is to be remem- 

 bered that wood in the tropics is not subject to the sudden and 

 severe changes of temperature which must be undergone by rail- 

 road ties in this country, and the effects of which upon this wood 

 are quite unknown. The result of this trial will prove of the 

 greatest interest. If successful, there is no reason why numerous 

 other hard tropical woods possessing the same properties, a num- 

 ber of them growing in the same region with this Mora, cannot 

 be similarly utilized. It is stated that the cost of these ties will 

 be about $1.50 each, which is just about double that of the ties 

 now in use, but it seems to the writer very doubtful if the expense 

 of securing them will not be considerably greater than this 

 estimate. 



New York College of Pharmacy. 



