ON THK HARD WOODS OF COMMERCE. 55 



most perfect black, that from the Mauritius and Ceylon being variegated 

 more or lesss with cream brown. D. cordifolia is a dark brown and 

 difficult to work. Ebony is much affected by the weather, and, to 

 prevent splitting it should be covered. Ebony of very superior quality 

 is procurable in the western districts of the Madras presidency, as well 

 as the Northern Circars. We have seen sixteen-inch planks of a fine 

 uniform black, chiefly obtained from Coorg and Canara. Smaller pieces 

 are procured from Cuddapa, Salem, Nuggur, &c, ; but there is no 

 steady demand, though it is a peculiarly fine timber for cabinet work, 

 and some of it is well veined for ornament. Ebony may be obtained in 

 Siam, but the quality is not very good ; a little is exported thence 

 every year to China by the junks. The species of Diospyros have this 

 peculiarity, that the black heart-wood is surrounded by white sap-wood. 

 The task of determining the species which yield the best wood, and 

 verifying the specific names, is important, and merits careful elucida- 

 tion. Fustic is a hard, strong, yellow wood, obtained from Madura tinc- 

 toria, a West Indian tree. It used to be employed in cabinet work, but 

 was found to darken and change colour on exposure to the air and heat. 

 It is chiefly used now as a dye-wood. The imports in 1861 were 8,458 

 tons, valued at 50,444?. The principal imports come from Venezuela, the 

 West Indies, Mexico, and New Granada, and through the northern 

 Atlantic ports. Iron-wood is a common name for many trees producing 

 bard, ponderous, close-grained woods. In America it is applied to the 

 Ostrya virginiaca, a tree which only grows to a small size ; but the white 

 wood is compact, finely grained, and heavy. There is an iron-wood in 

 Brazil, but the tree yielding it is not defined. One of the iron-woods 

 entering into commerce is the Metrosideros verus, an East Indian tree, 

 whilst some species of Sideroxylon furnish other iron woods. The iron- 

 wood of Norfolk Island is the Olea apetala. Another close, hardwood, 

 which sinks in water, is the Argania sideroxylon of Morocco. Jack-wood, 

 or Cos, as it is locally called in Ceylon, is an excellent furniture and 

 fancy wood, obtained from the Artocarpus integrifolia, a tree allied to 

 the bread-fruit. It is a coarse and open-grained, though heavy wood, 

 of a beautiful saffron colour, and emits a peculiar, but by no means un- 

 pleasant, odour. King-wood, one of the most beautiful of the hard woods 

 imported, reaches us from Brazil, in trimmed billets, from 2 to 7 inches 

 diameter. It is probably from Spartium arbor, or some undefined 

 species of Triptolomoza. It is also called violet-wood, being 

 streaked in violet tints of different intensities, is finer in the ejrain than 

 rosewood. The smaller pieces are frequently striped, and occur some- 

 times full of elongated zone eyes. Letter-wood, or snake-wood, is a 

 scarce and costly wood of British Guiana, obtained from Piratinera 

 guianensis. It is very hard, of a beautiful brown colour, with black 

 spots, which have been compared to hieroglyphics. The spotted part is 

 only the heart-wood, which is seldom more than 12 or 15 inches in 

 circumference. Its application to cabinet-work and to small turnery 



