216 SYLVAN WINTKR. 



use in the stip-building trades, and for employment 

 in making railway sleepers and for other railway 

 purposes, where exposure to the weather is 

 involved, it is unrivalled. The outdoor uses for 

 wood are almost numberless, and Larch is second 

 to none in all the necessary qualifications of 

 timber for such uses. 



Famous amongst heavy woods is the Lignum 

 ■vitas or ' wood of life,' the botanical name of 

 which is Guaiacum officinale. It is an evergreen, 

 with dark foliage, and grows in its native 

 country, the West Indian islands, to a large size. 

 The wood is yellow, or a yellow inclining to olive 

 colour, with an irregular cross grain. It is so 

 hard that it is extremely difficult to split it, and 

 it breaks, when struck heavily, almost in the 

 manner of stone. The resinous sap it contains 

 resists the entrance into its substance of water, 

 and this circumstance explains its remarkable 

 resistance to decay. Its heaviest and hardest 

 and also its darkest-coloured part is its heart- 

 wood — its sap-wood being less heavy and of a 

 lighter colour. For all uses in which exceptional 

 hardness is required — such as for mallets and 



