GUAYAQUIL LIGNUM-VITAE 



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

 minute lines about 0-5 mm. high : need lens. 



Type specimens from commercial sources, not authenticated. 

 It is reputed to be the wood of Aspidosperma Quebracho or of 

 Quebrachia Lorentzii. Griseb. (syn. Loxopterygium Lorentzii, 

 Griseb.). Its structure agrees with that of several species belonging 

 to the Natural Order to which the latter species belongs yet 

 there is very little ground for affirming that this wood should be 

 placed in it. The name "Quebracho" is very commonly 

 applied to very hard woods, and the resemblance of the specific 

 names to the popular one is a very unsafe guide. As regards 

 Aspidosperma, I think that name may be safely discarded, as 

 the structure of our present species bears no resemblance to the 

 woods of the Apocynaceae. (See Wiesner, L. 12, p. iooo.) 



No. 212a. QUEBRACHO. Species unknown. 



Plate XV. Fig. 134. 



I have met with a wood under this name which is extremely 

 similar to the foregoing both in appearance and structure. It 

 may be only a variety, but the following differences seem to 

 point to a different, though allied, species. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 83^ lbs. per cu. 

 ft. Burns badly and supports a flame with difficulty. Reaction 

 with iron salts black turning greenish. Surface has a rather 

 greasy lustre. Contains more tannin than the foregoing. 



Colour. Quite uniform nut-brown. 



My specimen, sent me by Mr. Wm. Sinclair, comes from Africa. 

 It is imported in small sizes in the round. This agrees fairly, 

 closely with Wiesner's description of Schinopsis (Quebrachia), 

 but he does not state from whence his specimens come (L. 12, 

 p. 964). 



No. 213. GUAYAQUIL LIGNUM-VITAE. Species 



unknown. 



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

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 2, compare Boxwood. Smell or taste 

 none. Burns indifferently well : heat expels a red resin or gum : 

 embers glow in still air. 



Grain. Very fine, open and dense. Surface dull with much 

 duller pores : not cold to the touch : no exudation. 



Bark. ? 



Uses, etc. An inferior substitute for Lignum-vitae (Guaia- 

 cum, No. 16), with which it has nothing whatever in common. 



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