THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



minent, covering half the surface of the wood and visibly coarse 

 in texture. 



Type specimens authenticated by the Forest Officer to the 

 Government of British Guiana. 



No. 125. DEGAME-WOOD. Calycophyllum candi- 



dissimum. DC. ? 



Plate IX. Fig. 79. 



Natural Order. Rubiacese. 



Alternative Name. Degame Lancewood. 



Source of Supply. Cuba ? 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry- weight 49 lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 3, compare Blackthorn. Smell or 

 taste none. Burns well with a lively spluttering flame : embers 

 glow in still air, heat expels a red juice. Solution with water or 

 alcohol almost colourless. 



Grain. Very fine and dense. Surface bright, scarcely 

 lustrous : the pores contain occasional minute, white, shining 

 drops. Not sensibly cold to the touch. 



Bark. ? 



Uses, etc. Similar to those of Lancewood, with which it is 

 almost always confused. Usually met with in the form of small 

 logs or spars. 



Colour. Uniform yellow. Sap-wood ? 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Need lens, size 4, rather fine, little variation : uni- 

 formly crowded, but tending to radial lines : single or in com- 

 pact radial groups of as many as 8 : numerous, about 150 per 

 sq. mm. 



Rays. Scarcely visible with the naked eye, size 5-6, uniform : 

 equidistant, a pore-width or less apart : straight, not avoiding 

 the pores : numerous, 7-10 per mm. : rarely tapering : less 

 dense than the ground-tissue : white to brownish. 



Rings. Very doubtful : a zone here and there poorer in pores : 

 no line of contrast or other boundary. 



Soft-tissue. Little : a few isolated cells here and there, but 

 none in concentric lines or other definite form. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Pores fine, colourless scratches: rays 

 scarcely visible with the naked eye, minute, dull, white flakes : 

 rings rarely traceable. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the rays are invisible 

 even with lens : minute, colourless lines. 



Type specimens from commercial sources, not authenticated. 



The correct name of this wood is in some doubt. It is re- 



144 



