Sandal- Wood and its Commercial Importance. 73 



although quietly and soberly coloured, the markings of their 

 plumage are exceedingly neat and beautiful. Their quiet 

 browns and other tints must be necessary to their very exist- 

 ence when engaged in incubation and the rearing of their 

 young brood. Both sexes have a habit of crouching close to 

 the ground when alarmed, and in this position even the gor- 

 geously-coloured male has a good chance of escaping observa- 

 tion, the colour of his upper parts being chiefly brown, mottled 

 with black, with a few dashes of red, and having a round white 

 spot at the tip of each feather. The tail is somewhat roof-like 

 in shape, and consists of twenty blackish feathers, which are 

 mottled with yellowish on their basal half. These, as well as 

 the largest of the tail coverts, are remarkably plain when com- 

 pared with the rest of his plumage ; the largest coverts are 

 brown, edged at the end with a lighter tint of the same, inside 

 of which is a blackish line. These feathers are somewhat 

 squared at their ends, which circumstance, together with their 

 edging, reminds one strongly of the plumage of the turkey, to 

 which bird the horned pheasants are nearly related. 



" The breadth of the light blue stripes on the wattle varies 

 considerably in individual specimens. The plumage also varies 

 much in depth of colour." 



SANDAL-WOOD AND ITS COMMERCIAL 

 IMPOETANCE. 



BY BERTHOLD SEEMANN, PH.D., P.L.S., E.K.G.S. 



If all the sandal ever burnt before the shrines or used in 

 the manufacture of idols could be piled in one heap, what a 

 mountain it would be ! The trade in this fragrant wood, still 

 important, has been going on since the dawn of history, and 

 will probably not cease until the connection between sandal 

 trees and idolaters, existing from time immemorial, shall have 

 been broken up by either the one or the other becoming as 

 extinct a race as the Archyopteryx, the Moa, or the Dodo. The 

 religious sentiment of millions of human beings is still inti- 

 mately associated with this wood. When the Hindoo or 

 Buddhist beholds its smoke, incense-like, gently curling heaven- 

 wards, he feels that he has acted up to the religious duties 

 expected from him, and that the perfume, smelling sweetly in 

 the nostrils of his deity, " will cover a multitude of sins," of 

 which he may have been guilty. History fails to record why 

 sandal was chosen for offices so important, but we may easily 

 fill up the blank. Mankind in its infancy attributed to their 

 gods all the passions, weaknesses, and predilections common 



