SNEEZEWOOD 



Sources of Supply. South Africa : Natal, Cape Colony, Zulu- 

 land. 



Physical Characters, etc. Weight 65-67^ lb. per cu. ft. Hard- 

 ness Grade 1, compare Ebony. Smell peppery, often excites 

 sneezing and running of the eyes when worked. Taste nauseous 

 and bitter. Solution with water or alcohol faint yellow. Burns 

 well with a lively crackling flame, heat expels a sepia-coloured 

 juice, embers glow in still air. 



Grain. Extremely fine though open. Surface very lustrous, 

 due to the ground-tissue : rays and pores dull. 



Bark. $-| inch thick, hard, shiny, coriaceous, cracked, per- 

 sistent, brown without, yellow within. 



Uses, etc. "Turnery, building, water-work" (19), "works of 

 construction, bridges : but slightly affected by water " (51). " One 

 of the most desirable woods in the world : bearings for shafts : 

 takes a beautiful polish : termite and teredo proof : very in- 

 flammable even when green. May be met with in logs 20- 

 30 ft. long by 2-4 ft. in diameter" (19). Hard to saw, but not 

 refractory. 



Authorities. Boulger (12), pp. 421-418. Laslett (60), p. 303. 

 Kew Catalogue (57), p. 30. Cape Land Almanack (19). 



Colour. Rose colour, light citron to brownish-red with lighter 

 and darker zones. Sap-wood milk-white about 20 rings wide, 

 defined from the heart. Colour darkens upon exposure. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Need lens, size 5-7, uniform : evenly distributed, but 

 a slight tendency to gather into zones and a radial arrange- 

 ment of the pores : rather fewer in the outer part of the rings : 

 occasionally in radial groups of 2-7 : not subdivided : round : 

 numerous, about 50-70 per mm. : contents mostly white, some- 

 times dark red. 



Rays. Require the microscope to count them, but just visible 

 with lens : extremely fine, size 7 : lightly undulating, not avoid- 

 ing the pores : same density as the ground-tissue : white : 

 very numerous, 20-25 P er mm - : about the width of a pore apart. 



Rings. Very clear : the boundary a line of contrast between 

 the density of the ground-tissue, accompanied by a very loose 

 pore-zone against one " poor " in pores : contour undulating. 



Soft-tissue. None. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. The pores are minute lines upon the limit of 

 vision, blood-red when filled with resin, otherwise whitish or 

 hoary. The rays need the lens and are minute inconspicuous 

 flakes. The rings are very clear and appear as light and dark 

 bands, making loops as in deal. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the rays appear as 



53 



