CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 235 



after the wood has been worked, leaving a clamminess which cannot be 

 completely got rid of even when the piece is thoroughly seasoned. This 

 oily substance has probably a -preservative property about it and may be 

 conducive to the durability of the timber. On the other hand, this may 

 have certain disadvantages. The wood has been known to swell after 

 seasoning, and on one occasion when used for thin parquet flooring 

 great difficulty was experienced in getting the wood to hold the glue. 

 It was considered that this was possibly due to this oily substance. If, 

 however, an exceptionally strong glue is used, the flooring is quite satis- 

 factory and has a particularly handsome and attractive appearance. 



Gamble says that it is '•' after teak the most important timber tree of 

 Burma. . . . The wood is very durable, a property which it doubtless 

 owes in great measure to the resinous substances contained in it. The 

 resin is more apparent in the Burmese than in that grown in S. India. 

 The chief use of the wood is for railway sleepers, large numbers of which 

 are now cut in Burma and exported to India. It is the chief wood used 

 on the Burma railways. It is also eminently suited for paving-blocks, 

 and has been successfully tried for the purpose in Rangoon. Good 

 blocks were exhibited in Paris in 1900. It is excellent for telegraph posts. 

 The local uses are for boat-building, agricultural implements, carts, and 

 tool handles. It is a valuable building wood, especially for piles and beams 

 of bridges, but it has the disadvantage of being heavy and difficult to cut." 

 Mr. G. R. Keen tells me, however, that a new saw which is now being used 

 in India cuts the wood satisfactorily in an incredibly short time. 



Laslett, writing in 1875, quoted a note by Lieut. Col. H. W. Blake, 

 the Commissioner at Moulmein, who wrote that the wood was " heavier 

 than water, and more indestructible than iron." He added : " There is 

 a piece of this wood which supported a teak figure of Godama, taken from 

 Rangoon in 1826, standing in a lake near. The teak figure has long since 

 mouldered away into dust, but at the pillar I fired a rifle shot at 20 yards 

 distance ; the ball was thrown back, making no penetration whatever. 

 The wood seems hardened by time and exposure, and it is also a fact 

 that the teredo will not touch it. The Burmans do not girdle and kill 

 this tree as they do the teak, but fell and saw it up at once, and refuse 

 to work it in a dry state." This wood is one of the timbers mentioned 

 in Gamble's list of those which are available in fairly large quantities 

 and are likely to be worth trial. 



The pores, which are few in number, are rather small, and are plugged 

 with a bright shining gum or resin. The medullary rays are numerous, 

 parallel, visible, and very fine. 



Quassia. Picraena excelsa, Lol. Weight, 35 lbs. 4 oz. Central America. 

 This timber is imported in small round logs, yielding boards of 10 to 11 



