AMERICAN WOODS. 339 



The Woods of South America. 



Rose-wood. — The wood of several undetermined species 

 of Triptolomcea (Nat. Ord. Leguminosce) . — The varieties of 

 Eose-wood are too well known to need description ; they are 

 exported from the Brazilian ports, in planks rarely exceeding 

 twelve feet in length, flat on one side and round on the 

 other ; each being evidently one half of the stem, with the 

 bark removed. The removal of the bark and splitting of 

 the stem is probably for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 quality of the wood before incurring the expense of trans- 

 portation. Violet-wood and King-wood, two other beauti- 

 ful Brazilian woods resembling the Eose-woods, are probably 

 derived from other species of the same genus. They are in 

 much smaller pieces, usually in round sticks about four or 

 five feet in length, and varying in thickness from two to six 

 inches ; the colours are clearer than those of Eose-wood. 



Snake Wood or Letter Wood, Piratmera Guianensis. 

 (Nat. Ord. Artocarpacece.) — Probably the most beautiful of 

 all fancy woods; it is of a rich chestnut-brown colour, 

 beautifully mottled with large cloudy spots of deep umber- 

 brown, strongly resembling the markings of some serpents. 

 It is very scarce, and is only obtainable in small pieces ; it 

 is in sticks of two or three inches' diameter, rarely reaching 



