PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. ix 



Cape, Natal, and others of our Colonies, thereby, I 

 believe, greatly enhancing the value of the work. 



I trust, also, that those concerned will find the com- 

 prehensive additions regarding the general characters 

 of timber and its uses, its defects, and the processes of 

 preserving it of value. 



Those readers who wish to go further into the 

 literature of timber, and especially of the woods of 

 our Colonial possessions, will do well to consult the 

 various works quoted throughout the book, and to 

 visit the Timber Museum at Kew.* I do not 

 pretend to have enumerated all, but choice has been 

 made of some of the leading ones, and I take this 

 opportunity of acknowledging many obligations to 

 the works referred to. In order to facilitate reference 

 to the very numerous additions, especially among 

 the timbers of our Colonies, I have prepared an 

 index as complete as possible to all the names of 

 the trees concerned. 



In conclusion, while it is too much to expect 

 that no omissions have been overlooked in a book 

 requiring so much labour, I hope that few will be 



* An excellent guide to this has since been published, to which I owe 

 several corrections in the proof-sheets. 



