INDIA, BUEMA, AND ANDAMAN ISLANDS 163 
strength 6*8 tons, coefficient of elasticity 780'7 tons 
per square inch (Prof. Unwin, Inipl. Inst. Journal, May, 
1899). 
Weight 50 to 65 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Cocoanut Tree {Cocus nucifera) is a large palm which 
produces a very heavy and durable wood of a dark brown 
colour traversed by longitudinal black seams, and with a 
fine, dense, even grain. In India and the tropics it is 
used for house posts, and, although it has very little 
transverse strength, for rafters and ridge poles about 
3 by 1 J inches and up to 20 ft. long, it makes handsome 
and durable furniture. In Europe it goes under the name 
of " Porcupine wood." It is one of the fancy woods of 
commerce, and is used for walking-sticks and also as a 
veneer for small fancy articles. It is not hollow like so 
many palms, and attains a height of 30 to 40 ft. and a 
diameter of 1 to 2 ft. 
Weight 40 to 70 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Calamander {Diospyros qucesita) is the most esteemed of 
Ceylon woods, but is rare and realises a fancy price. It is 
in appearance somewhat similar to the finest walnut, a 
rich hazel brown colour mottled and striped with irregular 
black marks, but it is superior to walnut in the extreme 
closeness of its grain and richness of its colour. Like 
ebony and satinwood, calamander is chiefly used for furni- 
ture, cabinet work, turnery, and veneers. The medullary 
rays are fine and equidistant. 
Weight 57 lbs. per cubic foot. 
The Sal {Shorea robusta) is the most uniformly gregarious 
of the trees of India, and in the forests where it grows is 
always the prevailing tree ; it grows in the forests along 
the Terai at the foot of the Himalayas, near Gaya, and in 
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