THE PHILIPPINE 



Journal of Science 



A. Chemical and Geological Sciences 

 and the Industries 



Vol. XII 



MAY, 1917 



No. 3 



DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF PHILIPPINE WOODS » 



By A. H. Wells 

 (From the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Bureau of Science, Manila) 



In the United States and other countries the destructive dis- 

 tillation of waste wood has become a large and growing industry. 



In order to furnish some idea as to the possible introduction 

 of such an industry into the Philippine Islands, certain classes of 

 woods were selected and the relative yields of products wer£' de- 

 termined on representative specimens. 



Table I. — Classification of commercial woods used for destructive 

 distillation. 



Botanical name. 



Commercial name. Group."" 



Hardness. » 



Specific 

 grav- 

 ity, b 



Mois- 

 ture.b 



• 



Rhizophora sp 



Bruguiera parviflora W. & A... 





4 

 4 

 4 

 1 

 1 

 2 

 3 



1 

 4 

 3 

 4 



Very hard.. 



do 



do 



0.925 

 1.053 

 0.754 

 0.933 

 0.930 

 0.716 

 0.721 

 0.492 

 0.630 

 0.458 

 0.711 

 0.687 



P. cent. 

 8.1 

 9.0 

 7.7 

 6.7 

 7.2 

 7.4 

 10.0 

 7.8 



8.6 

 8.4 

 9.2 







Intsia bijuga (Colebr.) 0. Ktze _ 



Ipil 







Shorea guiso (Blanco) Blume ... 



Dipterocarpus sp_. 



Shorea polyspermia ( Blanco) Merr 





do 



Apitong 



Medium hard 



do 



do 



Narra 



Pentacmecontorta (Vid.) M. & R. 

 Anisoptera thurifera Blanco 



White lauan 



Soft 





Benguetpine 









" Group and hardness are taken from Annual Reps. P. I. Bur. For. (1906-1914). 

 b Specific gravity and moisture determination were made on the specimens used. 



The percentage of charcoal made in the Philippines from wood 

 other than that cut for such specific purpose is very small. 

 There exists in the Philippines a vast amount of wood of a waste 

 nature, the possible utilization of which might be a great benefit 

 to certain industries. Throughout the Islands in the timber 



Received for publication January 



1917. 



