CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 29 



Betis. Illipe betis, Blanco. Weight, 56 lbs. The Philippines. 



Foxworthy describes this as " a very hard, heavy, durable wood ; 

 used for piling, ship and boat building, . . . keels of boats, . . . railway 

 ties and sleepers, . . . posts of houses." 



Big Tree. Sequoia gigantea, Decaisne. Weight, 24 lbs. North America. 



While this tree is indigenous to North America, it has been very 

 successfully cultivated in England, where, however, it is known as 

 WeUingtonia. It should not be confused, as it often is, with the sequoia 

 or redwood of America. 



The wood is light, soft, and spongy. It varies in colour from pale 

 yellow to a warm red, with a very broad white sap edge. The concentric 

 layers are usually wide. The wood is generally of little value, as it is 

 brittle and possesses little strength. It is, however, said to be durable 

 in contact with the ground. 



BiLLiAN. Eusideroxylon Zwageri, T. and B. Weight, 70 lbs. (Baterden). 

 Borneo, Malay Peninsula. 



This timber varies in colour from dark to light brown when first cut, 

 while it deepens almost to black on exposure to Ught and air. It is one 

 of the hardest and heaviest of the Borneo and Malay woods. It has 

 occasionally been imported, and has been inquired for from time to time 

 in the United Kingdom for some works of importance. Foxworthy 

 mentions its use in heavy construction, bridges, and telegraph and tele- 

 phone poles, and railway ties and sleepers, and says that it is perhaps the 

 best wood in the world for piling. He adds, " Billian is one of the very 

 few woods of Borneo which is known outside this region. It is exported 

 to Europe in some quantity and has been used for piling at several places 

 in Holland and France. It is deserving of wider use, but a few years 

 vigorous exploiting will exhaust the available supply of it." 



Birch. Betula alba, Linn. ; B. lenta, Linn., etc. Weight, 47 lbs. 13 oz. 

 Europe, North America. 



The wood is of a yellowish-red colour, and is very tough and fairly 

 hard, close in texture, and easy to work. It is imported into this country 

 in logs varying from 6 to 20 feet long and 12 to 30 inches wide, and in 

 sawn square-edged planks and boards mostly from 10 to 16 feet long 

 and 4 to 18 or 20 inches wide. For many years it was used extensively 

 for furniture of all kinds, but of late, except for inexpensive chairs, it has 

 largely gone out of fashion. It is, however, in great demand for auto- 

 mobile carriage building, for step-boards and frame-work, carts and vans, 

 desks and office furniture, agricultural implements (Spenser in the Faerie 

 Queen speaks of " the birch for shafts "), and general woodwork. Some 



