280 WOODS FOE ENGBAVING. 



which are furnished in the following communication which ap- 

 peared in the Edinburgh New Phil. Journal, July, 1860. 



The Guava (Psidium pyriferum) was found to be close-grained 

 and moderately hard, with a thin bark and pretty uniform tex- 

 ture of both the outer and inner parts of the wood when cut 

 across the grain. It cut easily and cleanly like firm cheese, and 

 gave delicate lines ; but being softer than boxwood, it did not 

 stand the pressure of printing, though it yielded very good im- 

 pressions with a burnisher. The art of printing from woodcuts, 

 for illustrating literature in India, being in its infancy, many of 

 the early impressions were spoilt from too heavy pressure. For 

 four or five years the guava was used, and answered well for 

 bold' engraving, and for cutting blocks of large letters ; attempts 

 to cut small letters upon it for a Tamil alphabet proved a failure, 

 though the large Tamil and English alphabets succeeded well, 

 and were useful for several purposes, as printing large school and 

 diagram letters, stamping on cloth and clay to get letters or num- 

 bers for use in schools. The guava-wood was found to vary much 

 in texture, the large trees yielding a soft, coarse wood, while the 

 small wood from hilly districts was hard and fine in the grain. 

 Samples sent to England, and tried for engraving, were pro- 

 nounced to be too soft, and inferior to English boxwood. 



The Satin-wood (Ghloroxylon Swietenia) proved to be hard, but 

 uneven in the grain, coarse in the pores, and, like many woods of 

 a large size, harder and denser in the centre than near the bark. 

 Under the graver it was found to splinter. This wood was con- 

 demned, as unsuited for wood-engraving, both in Madras and 

 England. 



The Palay (Wrightia tinctoria). The native name is vague, 

 being applied to a number of woods that have a milky juice. 

 The wood, however, is better known to the public as one from 

 which native toys are frequently turned. It is a pale, nearly 

 white wood, close and uniform in the grain, but too soft to stand 

 printing. It cuts smoothly, but does not bear delicate cross- 

 hatching. It was pronounced unfit for wood-engraving in Eng- 

 land, though well suited for turning, carving, and inlaying with 

 darker woods. 



Veppaley (Wrightia antidysenterica) was found to be very hard 



