THE SANDAL WOOD OF THE SODTH-SEA ISLANDS. 371 



Acacia mclanoxylon, R. Br., furnishes the Myall wood of New South 

 "Wales ; this wood is also called violet wood, on account of the strong odour 

 it has of that favourite flower. Articles made from it are shown in the 

 Queensland Court of the International Exhibition. The tree grows to a 

 height of from 20 to 40 feet, with a diameter of from 10 to 18 inches ; it is a 

 rich, dark coloured wood, and is much used for carving and ornamental work. 

 The bark of the Black wattle of New South Wales, is much prized in that 

 colony for tanning. Many species of Acacia growing in New South Wales, 

 produce valuable wood, which require to be more known to be appreciated. 

 The wood of the Acacia mollissima, Willd., of Tasmania, is much prized for 

 its durability, and is used for tree-nails, and, when split, for making hats 

 and baskets. Many of the species of this genus furnish gums more or less. 

 valuable. Sabicu wood, of which the stairs in the Exhibition building of 

 1851 were made, as are those in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, and 

 which is so valued for its excessive hardness, has been attributed to a 

 species of Lysiloma, perhaps a new species, L. Sabicu ; it grows in the 

 Island of Cuba. Some species of Albizzia furnish woods which are used in 

 India for various purposes. In Brazil, a gum is procured from Pithecolo- 

 bium gummiferum, Mart., resembling gum Senegal. From the leaves oilnga 

 bigemina, Willd., a decoction is made by the natives in India, used for 

 encouraging the growth of the hair, and for curing leprosy. The wood of 

 I. xylocarpa, D.C., is much esteemed for its strength, and is« used for plough- 

 heads, &c. The pods of /. fceculifera, Desv., contain a sweet yellow pulp, 

 which is eaten by the natives of St. Domingo, who call it Pois-doux ; it is 

 said to be a purgative. 



Kew, W., May, 1862. 



SOME REMARKS ON THE SANDAL WOOD OF THE SOUTH 

 SEA ISLANDS. 



BY JOHN MACGILLIVRAY. 



The wood under consideration is the product of various trees, belonging 

 to the genus Santalum of botanists, and that species called Santalum album, 

 for a long time furnished the principal supply. Being a hard, close-grained, 

 and ornamental wood, it is used for some descriptions of cabinet work, and 

 various carved, ornamental, and useful articles — as writing-desks, work- 

 boxes, card-cases, &c, are made of it. But its chief characteristic consists 

 in the remarkable smell of the wood, which it owes to the presence of a 

 peculiar volatile oil, extensively used by the natives of India as a perfume 

 and also on account of certain reputed medicinal properties. 



This also has caused it to be largely used to burn as incense in the 

 temples of China, In course of time, sandal- wood was discovered to be 

 abundant in some of the South Sea Islands, where it is the product of 

 several species of Santalum, all of which are different from the long known 



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