72 THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 



and is yellowish-grey in colour. It will be noted, too, that in several 

 cases wood derived from the true ebony genus, Diospyros, are not termed 

 ebonies ; two additional cases may be cited : the persimmon-woods of 

 North America (D. virginiana) and of Japan [D. Kaki). Trees belonging 

 to the ebony family but not to the genus Diospyros, also furnish ebony : 

 such is alleged to be the case with Maba Ebenus of the Moluccas, and 

 Euclea Pseudebenus from South Africa. 



Its hardness, freedom from shrinkage and warping, powers of resisting 

 decay and attacks by insects, as well as the smoothness of surface and 

 finely polished appearance obtainable, cause ebony to be highly esteemed 

 for particular purposes, including the making of piano keys, violin- 

 bridges, flutes, handles of knives, handles and backs of brushes, rulers, 

 mathematical instruments, walking-sticks, picture-frames, furniture, and 

 ornamental cabinet work generally. Piano cases are made of wood which 

 is stained to resemble ebony. 



The conditions of formation of the black wood in ebony are not 

 identical with those obtaining in regard to the heart-wood of ordinary 

 European trees. This fact is well brought out in Mr. Herbert Wright's 

 most valuable paper on the ebonies of Ceylon.^ The succeeding informa- 

 tion is culled from this source. " The occurrence of ebony [black wood] 

 within the plant cannot be stated in terms of the age of the tree. . . . 

 The black heart-wood occurs usually in the stem [trunk], but is often 

 present in young twigs and roots. . . . The occurrence of the central 

 black wood is often erratic, though most usually it decreases in volmne 

 from below upwards. ... In some instances . . . the black heart-wood 

 repeatedly dies away and reappears at different points along a given 

 length [of trunk or branch]." The consequence of these facts is that the 

 search for profitable ebony in ebony-trees is by no means a simple one. 

 " The ebony is obtained by felling the tree and stripping off the peripheral 

 sapwood. It is usual to fell all those trees which have attained or exceeded 

 a breast-height circmnference of 2 metres (6^ feet), providing the 

 preliminary examination indicates the existence of a good proportion 

 of solid black heart -wood. The preliminary examination usually consists 

 of making an incision and determining the extent to which the discolora- 

 tion [blackening of the wood] has proceeded. ..." 



The precise chemical nature of the black or deep brown colouring 

 matters, largely contained in the cavities of ebony, is not finally established. 



Apart from so-called " green ebony " (q.v.) the following have been 

 or are the geographical and reputed botanical sources of commercial 

 ebonies. 



\ Herbert Wright, " The Genus Diospyros in Ceylon : its Morphology, Anatomy, 

 and Taxonomy," Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, vol. ii. pp. 22-55, 

 1904. 



