CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 43 



Calophyllum tomentosum, Wight. Weight, 30 lbs. India. 



The wood, which is the produce of the poon-spar tree, is of a light 

 reddish-brown colour with dark gum streaks, and a slightly lustrous 

 appearance. Gamble says : " The tree yields the poon-spars of commerce, 

 but the spars are now in but small demand. . . . The wood is now in use 

 for building and bridge work." Pearson says that it has been used in 

 the Naval Dockyard, Bombay, as spars, masts, and crane shafts. It 

 would be appreciated in the United Kingdom as a furniture and cabinet 

 wood, and possesses many qualities that would bring it into favour. 



The pores are of moderate size, irregular in position in wavy groups. 

 The mediiUary rays are exceedingly fine and numerous, parallel and 

 equidistant. 



Camphor Wood. True camphor. Cinnamomum Camphora, Nees and 

 Eberm. Laurus Camphora, Linn. Weight, 40 lbs. 11 oz. China, 

 Formosa, Japan. 



There is no evidence to show whether the timber which has been 

 imported is the produce of either one sort or the other. Some sawn 

 planks were imported from China in 1911 as true camphor, and were 

 found to consist of 75 per cent of a wood which resembled camphor wood 

 in colour only. This wood has a very strong scent of balsam of aniseed, 

 and it was found to be soft and woolly, and to shrink and warp and twist 

 in seasoning, quite contrary to the true camphor wood, which stands well ; 

 it was altogether unsatisfactory. The remainder was of a yellowish 

 colour with dark red or reddish-brown streaks, and, having a very strong 

 scent of camphor, was, no doubt, genuine camphor wood. 



In 1912 Mr. H. J. Elwes had a number of planks and some exceedingly 

 fine burrs imported from Formosa. They were of large size, ranging up 

 to 4 feet square ; they were very handsomely marked, nothing ever having 

 been previously seen like them. There were also some planks of Formosan 

 camphor wood in the Japanese Exhibition at the White City. This wood 

 was less streaky and sUghtly browner in colour, harder in grain and of 

 better quality, with the scent of camphor wood exceedingly pronounced. 

 Camphor wood can hardly be said to be in commercial use in this country ; 

 it is generally seen in seamen's ship's trunks. In China it is largely used 

 for boxes, linings of drawers, cupboards, wardrobes and receptacles for 

 storing furs, where it is particularly valued on account of its immunity 

 from the attack of insects or moth, and it is to be regretted that it is not 

 more commonly appreciated in this country for use in such work. Fox- 

 worthy speaks of it as being durable for both interior and exterior work 

 on this account. He says that it is durable in water, and has been valued 

 from ancient times in shipbuilding. The greater part of the available 



