TECHNOLOGY AND ANATOMY OF SOME SILKY OAK TIMBERS. 363- 
common names have been introduced into this paper in an 
endeavour to assist the trade, and these could be used till 
such time as scientific names are employed. 
Histological study has opened up a new feature, and 
attention is drawn to the fact that the preponderance of 
the rays in the wood material appears to break up the usual 
uniformity of concentricity of annual rings,so characteristic 
of dicotyledonous stems, into arcs on a transverse section. 
In the case of “‘ Bull Silky Oak’’ the rays ina cross section 
are so broad and numerous as to make up quite half of the 
surface. It is the long straight and numerous rays that. 
give the wood of these oaks its radial fissility. The ray 
feature is so characteristic of the Family that it differenti- 
ates the Proteacee from all othersexcept the Casuarinacee. 
The deep broad rays have given rise to the common name 
of Oak to these timbers, which correspondingly give the 
well known figure to the silver grain of the Huropean or 
northern hemisphere oaks, Quercus. But here the similarity 
ends so far as wood structure is concerned. Some of these 
Oaks can be determined microscopically at once by their 
cell contents, especially Orites excelsa. 
The timbers are, with one exception, comparatively light 
in weight yet comparatively strong, and are regarded 
mostly as excellent cabinet woods, although they are 
much appreciated in several trades, such as for coach build- 
ing, cooperage, dairy utensils, saddle-trees particularly so, 
as in the case of Grevillea robusta and Orites excelsa, no 
timber mentioned in this paper holds nails so well as these. 
I am informed by Mr. T. I. Wallas “‘that silky oak timbers. 
have been used in cooperage on the Northern Rivers dis- 
trict, N.S.W. for many years, and also all dairy utensils,— 
churns, tubs, basins, wine casks, meat pickling tanks and 
buckets were made of silky oak timber.’’ These would 
probably be G. robusta or Orites excelsa. In Queensland 
Cardwellia sublimis is the more generally used Oak. 
