THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



apart, size about 4 or less, undulating and continuous. Consists 

 of small, rather thinly- distributed cells : also encircling the pores. 



In the Radial Section the pores are bright grooves with cham- 

 bers shorter than their width. In Tangential Section, they are 

 as wide as they are long owing to their oval shape. 



Type specimen from commercial sources not authenticated. 



No. 57. NICARAGUA ROSE-WOOD. Dal- 



bergia sp. 



Plate V. Fig. 37. 



Natural Order. Leguminoseae. 



Source of Supply. Central America. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded weight 70 lbs. per cu. ft. 

 Hardness Grade 1, compare Ebony. Smell faintly but character- 

 istically fragrant. Taste none. Burns like a torch, ignites 

 readily, gives off a characteristic "Dalbergia " smell: heat expels 

 t resin. Solution with water amber : afterwards with cold alcohol 

 much stronger in colour, which increases but little upon boiling, 

 / but becomes rather redder. 



Grain. Moderately coarse and open ; the pores, though large, 

 are inconspicuous, being rare. Surface bright, feels smooth to 

 the touch like marble. 



Bark. ? 



Colour. Brilliant orange or reddish-orange streaked here and 

 there with narrow black lines. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Not readily visible, though large : size 2, not much 

 variation : evenly distributed but in zones : rare, 0-12 per sq. 

 mm. according to the number in the groups which are sub- 

 divided, clustered or radial, and from 2-7 pores each : nearly 

 always with amber contents : nearly round when single. 



Rays. Need lens and then clear even in the black lines : size 

 5-6 or 7, uniform : equidistant, much less than a large pore-width 

 apart : nearly straight, not avoiding but interrupted by the pores : 

 numerous, 16-19 per mm. : lax and large celled : lighter than 

 the ground. 



Rings. Obscure : the black bands rare ; perhaps a loose pore- 

 zone. 



Soft-tissue. Encircling the pores and in extremely fine, lighter- 

 coloured bars between the rays, making a fine net-work : about 

 the same width as the rays, size 5-6 (ray-scale), and about 10 per 

 mm. : not continuous : also a few concentric, lighter-coloured 

 lines about size 4, like other Dalbergias, but rare and irregular, 

 and more like ring boundaries. 



Radial Section. Pores rare, readily visible without contrast 



66 



