214 MADRAS EXHIBITION. 



awards recommended by them, and to a brief notice of those 

 points to which, in the ensuing exhibition, the particular atten- 

 tion of contributors should be invited. 



Travancore. — The collection of woods, forwarded by the com- 

 mittee of Travancore, is the most numerous (158 specimens) and 

 best selected, and for these reasons the jury consider it deserving 

 of a 1st class medal. Among the many interesting specimens 

 which this collection includes, the jury would draw attention to 

 one of a tree, considered to be of the cedar family, and named, 

 though doubtfully, Cedrela toona. The specimen is of consider- 

 able size ; the outer wood is whitish in colour and of little use ; 

 but the internal portion, forming about two-thirds of the entire 

 trunk, is close-grained, hard, of a rich dark red, and takes a high 

 polish. The tree is stated to be abundant twenty five miles 

 north-east of Trevandrum, and to yield planks from two to three 

 feet in diameter, and the jury are informed, by competent practical 

 advisers, that it promises to-be a good substitute for mahogany. 



2. Mr A. T. Jaffray.* — The collection which ranks next, in the 

 opinion of the jury, is one contributed by Mr A. T. Jaffray, Sup. 

 of Hort. Garden, Madras. The specimens, 88 in number (with 

 one or two exceptions), were obtained from the gardens under 

 his management, as a necessary consequence ; they are of small 

 size and. chiefly of sapwood ; but this defect is counterbalanced 

 by their careful botanical nomenclature, a point in which the 

 other collections are unfortunately deficient. A few of the large 

 timber trees, for the same reason, have no representative in this 

 miniature collection, which is, however, rich in many new and 

 interesting introduced woods, such as " lignum vitae, mahogany, 

 logwood, &c." The specimens are well prepared, showing the 

 horizontal as well as vertical section of each tree, the bark being 

 in all cases retained. The jury recommend the award of a 2d 

 class medal to Mr Jaffray ; and they would submit that his col- 

 lection, or one prepared in the same manner, of full grown trees 

 would be valuable to the Government, as an index to the spe- 

 cimens in its possession, which show only the timber without 

 any guide to the external appearance and character of each tree. 



3. The Tinnevelly collection is numerous, containing 63 speci- 

 * This collection is. lodged in the Government Museum, Madras. 



