137 



The following passage is suggestive : — 



The Accumulation of Waste in Wood. — In many trees the heartwood serves as a reservoir of various 

 excreta which may give it a colour different from that of the sapwood, as in the Eed Cedar (Juniperus 

 Virginiana), and in the Black Walnut. The coloured heartwood is usually much harder than the white 

 sapwood (as in Mahogany and Ebony), whence the significance of the name duramen. Occasionally the 

 medulla is a reservoir of excreta, as in the sumac, which is coloured yellow. Doubtless the chief advantage 

 of the accumulation of such substances in the duramen is that thus they are removed from the active 

 tissues, though it is an important subsidiary advantage that they increase the durability of the heartwood 

 and thus promote longevity. (" Text-book of Botany," Coulter, Barnes and Cowles, ii, 725.) 



The literature on the subject of colour in timber is not abundant, and attention 

 may be invited to " Recherches sur la determination des bois exotiques colore s d'apres les 

 .caracteres chimiques et spectroscopiques," par M. A. JaufTret (Ann. du Musee Colonial 

 de Marseille, 1920, pp. 163). It is a valuable paper, but chiefly refers to the timbers 

 of the French colonies, a number of which are not cited by botanical names. There is 

 a useful bibliography of the subject. No Eucalyptus timbers are mentioned. 



Following is the first attempt to classify Australian timbers by colours : — 



Maiden, 1892.—" Some of the Pale Hardwoods of New South Wales." Read, 

 by invitation, before the Sydney Architectural Association, and published in the Building 

 and Engineering Journal, 10th September, 1892. / 



Following is an extract : — 



I have not, however, seen our hardwoods grouped according to colours, but I think that such a 

 classification will be found useful, and, as our knowledge extends, degrees of difference in colour between 

 our various hardwoods will be found which are scarcely appreciated at present. I propose this evening 

 to deal with such of our hardwoods as are free, or almost free, from a reddish tinge, and which vary in colour 

 when quite fresh, from white to a very pale brown. For precision I shall confine my remarks to the 

 products of the genus Eucalyptus, which, of course, includes the vast majority of our hardwoods. Treat 

 •it aa one will, the subject remains a difficult one if it be done with any approach to thoroughness. . . • 

 (Here follow some notes in regard to the use of vernaculars and botanical names for the timbers of commerce, 

 seep. 141). . . . I would like to remind architects, in passing, that there is some kudos to be obtained 

 in designing furniture to be constructed out of our hardwoods. I particularly allude to such massive 

 furniture as tables, settees, &c. In large houses in Europe, such furniture is often made of oak, where 

 weight i3 not considered an object, and I think that some of our hardwoods may well be utilised as 

 oak -substitutes. I may remind you that one of our pale hardwoods, White Ash, is pretty extensively 

 used in Sydney already as a substitute for English and American Ash, and it is particularly suitable for 

 bedroom furniture, presenting an excellent appearance. In classifying the pale hardwoods of this colony, 

 it is not possible to draw a hard-and-fast line between the pale ones and those which are not pale, but I hope 

 eventually to be able to give a scale of timber-colours. I have divided our New South Wales pale hard- 

 woods into three groups, viz : — 



1. Hard, interlocked timbers; 



2. Fissile timbers ; 



3. Inferior timbers ; 



which I submit as a practically useful classification. 



The classification will be found in brief detail at p. 130. 



