416 
FOXWORTHY. 
STRENGTH AND RESISTANCE TO STRAINS. 
It is not the purpose of this jiaper to go into the question of the 
resistance of different woods to different strains. Reference may, how- 
ever, be made to the tests which have been made of oriental woods. 
Skinner, Laslett, Balfour, and Gamble have published tire results of 
tests on Indian timbers. In 1882, Howard Newton published a pamphlet 
showing the results of some work he had done on the timbers of the 
Straits Settlements. In 1906, Gardner published a bulletin giving the 
results of a number of careful tests on thirty different Philippine woods ; 
and in a second edition of this bulletin, published a year later, added 
information concerning four additional woods. So far as I know, this 
is the most careful piece of this kind of work which has been done in the 
east. 
ODOR, COLOR, TASTE, ETC. 
Many woods have distinct and characteristic odors. Some of them 
are agreeable — as camphor, sandal, rosewood, etc. There are a few which 
are distinctly disagreeable, as kulim. The odor of a wood is often a very 
good means of identifying it; but it is extremely difficult to classify odors. 
Color is a variable thing in wood. Usually the heartwood of a given 
species approximates closely a certain color at maturity; but individuals 
may not arrive at full maturity. Moreover, in some woods the mature 
heartwood may have quite a range of color change; and the occurrence 
or absence of heartwood in some may be a chance variation. Color alone 
is not often a sufficient means of identification of a wood. Naturally, 
after weathering, color is of still less value as a means of identification. 
A few woods have characteristic taste; thus, baiino and dita are bitter 
and pagatpat is salty. 
III. SUITABILITY OF DIFFERENT WOODS FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES. 
DURABILITY. 
Tests of the durability of a wood are much more severe in the tropics 
than in the temperate regions because of the high humidity combined 
with uniform temperature, favoring fungus and bacterial growth and 
the far greater liability to insect attack. There seem to have been no 
complete tests made of the durability of any oriental woods; and, in 
most cases, the only information available for any particular wood is mere 
hearsay or tradition. There are large series of tests in progress under the 
direction of the Philippine Forestry Bureau; and these will, in time, 
clear up much that is now in doubt as to the suitability of special woods 
for special purposes. In the meantime, much is known in a general 
way of a number of the woods. The fact that a wood is durable in the 
temperate zone is no guaranty that it will prove useful in the tropics. 
Many tropical woods which are not durable in their native country would 
last very well and be very serviceable if used in a temperate region. 
