CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 209 



sought for in furniture and decorative cabinet work of all sorts if it were 

 known and obtainable. 



The pores are very small, showing singly or grouped in pairs between 

 very strongly marked medullary rays. 



Pear, Native. Xylomelum occidentale, R. Br. Weight (at 12 per cent 

 moisture), 46 lbs. Western Australia. 



" A tree yielding a most ornamental dark-brown wood with a beautiful 

 figure. It is light, and makes up into very fine furniture wood ; finished 

 with a wax surface it resembles moire sUk " (C. E. Lane-Poole). 



Pear-tree. Pyrus communis, Linn. Weight, 47 lbs. 13 oz. Europe. 



This wood is remarkable for its extraordinary smoothness and evenness 

 of texture, which renders it excellent for carving, as it can be cut easily 

 and with a sharp edge in any direction. It is a pale yellowish-red, 

 resembling flesh colour more nearly than any other timber. Thus, if a 

 statue were made of pear-wood it would probably be the closest 

 resemblance to the human figure that could be produced. It is used for 

 mathematical and drawing instruments and rules. Elwes and Henry 

 mention its use for cogs, wood-screws, and tool handles. 



It has also been used for furniture. A recent addition to the Victoria 

 and Albert Museum is a seventeenth-century table of pear-wood from 

 Boughton House, Northamptonshire. It is also t6 be seen in the form of 

 marquetry, together with sycamore, ash, and maple, in a cabinet of pine, 

 which, dating from the second half of the sixteenth century, is carved on 

 the base with the rose and portcullis, emblems of the Tudor sovereigns 

 of England. 



A large trade is carried on in France and Germany in pear-wood 

 stained black to resemble ebony, which is used extensively in the piano- 

 forte and cabinet trades. 



The pores are exceedingly fine and numerous. The medullary rays 

 are hardly discernible with the aid of a lens (12 x ). 



Pentace Griffithii, King. Weight, 50 lbs. India, Burma. 



This is a light red, hard and close-grained wood, which is obtainable 

 in quantity in squares 40 feet x 16 inches x 16 inches. It works well, 

 and is suitable for cabinet work. In Burma it is used for boats, planking, 

 masts, oars, and boxes. 



Peroba Branca. Weight, 50 lbs. Brazil. 



The wood is Ught greyish-yellow in colour, close and fine in the grain, 

 and not difficult to work, although possessing wide patches of contrary 



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