i62 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [chap. 



BOX {Buxus sempervirens) 



is found nearly all over the South of Europe, from Spain 

 to the Sea of Marmora ; but in this country only 

 sparingly on warm, chalky hill-sides, as at Box Hill, 

 near Dorking. The timbers termed " Boxwood " in the 

 colonieSj etc., come from very different trees.* 



The Box tree seldom attains timber dimensions, and 

 is not a building wood ; it is, however, invaluable to the 

 mathematical instrument maker, the turner, and the 

 wood engraver, on account of the closeness of its grain 

 and evenness of texture ; and in the manufacturing 

 districts it is in great request for bosses and boxes in 

 connection with machinery. 



Boxwood of excellent quality is imported from 

 Abasia, in Circassia, and also from Turkey. It is brought 

 in round logs or billets, 3 to 8 feet in length, by 3 to 12 

 inches in diameter, with the bark on, which is thin, 

 smooth, and of a grey colour. It has no distinguishable 

 sap-wood, and the annual ring and medullary rays are 

 also invisible. 



The wood is yellow in colour, hard, heavy, free 

 from heart-shake, and about the most solid at the pith 

 that can be met with. It works up smoothly and with 

 a silky lustre. 



Boxwood is liable to split somewhat spirally from the 

 outside of the log, but stands well after being worked, 

 when thoroughly seasoned ; and as it is seldom required 

 for use except in small dimensions, no great loss is ever 

 sustained in its conversion. 



Boxwood is sold by weight, and in the London and 



* E.g., in Australia several species oi Eucalyptus, etc., in Jamaica Tecoma 

 ieniaphylla, in America Cornus Jlorida, and so on. 



