138 WOODS OF COJMMBRCE 



" Bog," Swedish " Bok," Bussian and Polish " Buk," Ital " Faggio/' 

 Portug, " Faya," Span, " Haya," Jre?^cA '^ Hetre." " White Beech " 

 in America. S.G. 700^720, average 705. W 41— 56. E 603 tons. 

 ft 2-3—7. fc 3—4. / 4*7. fs -4— -5. Breaking weight (tensile) 

 4,853 lbs. per sq. in. Crushing strain on sq. in. 9,363—7,733 lbs. 

 Lighter than Oak, with less tensile but almost equal crushing 

 strength. Height 70—100 ft. ; diam. 3— 4^ ft. Wood varying in 

 colour from red to yellow or white, the red being the better, grown 

 on richer soil. Rings distinct, bulging between the medullary 

 rays. Vessels small, more numerous in the spring wood, 1—5 

 together, so that autumn wood appears darker. Medullary rays 

 broad, very distinct, with a satiny lustre, occupying nearly a tenth 

 of the transverse section. Pith-mass triangular, small. The wood 

 contains vessels, tracheids, wood-fibres and parenchyma. It is 

 hard, heavy, as strong as Oak and tougher, but 25 per cent, less 

 stiff, close and even in texture, with a fine silky grain, easily cleaved 

 along the rays, very durable -under water, and, when well 

 seasoned, not liable to spKt. (Fig. 26.) It must, however, be 

 kept either wet or dry. It is liable to become worm-eaten ; but 

 can readily be treated with preservatives. Beech is largely used for 

 chair-making in Buckinghamshire and in Vienna, in the latter district 

 being often stained. Burning rapidly with a bright flame, it is 

 the chief fuel on the Continent of Europe. It also yields one of the 

 best gunpowder-charcoals. It is in great request among turners 

 for tool-handles, wooden screws, wheel cogs (for which it ranks next 

 to Hornbeam), shoe-lasts, printers' rollers, wood tjrpe, knife-handles 

 and bobbins, and makes excellent wedges. In Prance and Germany 

 it is considered the best of all woods, except Walnut, for sabots and 

 wooden soles, for which purpose it is *' smoked " over branches and 

 chips of beech, so as to become charged with pyroligneous acid, 

 when it is extremely impermeable. It is also used for railway- 

 sleepers, shafts, oars and boat-building. It is imported from Hol- 

 land and Germany to our Eastern ports. 



The name is applied in Australia to Trochocdrpa laurina R. Br. 

 [See Barranduna], FUndersia austrdlis R. Br. [See Flindosa], 

 F. Oxleydna P. v. M. [See Jack, Long], Tristdnia laurina R, Br. 

 [See Box, Bastard], Schizomeria ovdta I). Don [See Coach-wood], 

 Monotoca elUptica R. Br. [See Wallang-unda], Cryptocdrya glau- 

 ciscens R. Br. [See Beech, She], and to Omelina Leichhdrdtii P. v, M. 

 (Order VerhendcecB). This last is also termed "White Beech," 

 and by the aborigines " Binburra " and " CuUonen." It is a native 

 of Queensland and New South Wales, 80—150 ft. in height ; 2—4 ft. 

 in diam. W 36. Light- coloured, with a fine, bright, silvery grain, 

 strong, not warping, if moderately seasoned, durable, not easily 

 attacked by termites, and easily worked. It is one of the most 

 valuable of Austrahan timbers, being useful for turnery or for floats 



