352 
FOX WORTHY. 
has been a task of some difficulty, because of their large number and the 
unsteady and uncertain supply of any one species at any given time. 
There are about sixty-five commercial woods furnished by about one 
hundred species which are nearly always to be found in Manila, and in 
addition, there are several times as many which may occasionally be 
brought here in small quantities, so that the resulting complication is 
considerable. It follows that the chances for error are very great ; so that 
this paper at best can be only preliminary to the more complete work in- 
dicated by the title. 
PREVIOUS WORK. 
But little has been done in the way of careful study of the native 
woods ; the literature is as follows : 
Vidal y Soler (D. Domingo). — Manual del Maderero en Filipinas (1877), and 
other works by the same author. 
Scattered notes by other Spanish authors. 
Foreman (John). — The Philippine Islands. London (1899), 2d edition, 367-373; 
(1906), 3d edition, 312-317. 
This author gives notes on some of the best-known commercial woods. 
Aiiern, George P. — Important Philippine Woods. Manila ( 1901 ) . 
This is a compilation of notes from previous writers. This book brought 
together what had been written of the Philippine woods before 1901. 
Gardner, R. — Mechanical Tests, Properties, and Uses of Thirty Philippine Woods. 
Manila, For. Bur. Bull. (1906), 4, 2d edition (Aug., 1907). 
Whitford, H. N. — A preliminary Check-list of the Philippine Commercial Tim- 
bers. Manila, For. Bur. Bull. (1907), 7. (In press.) 
The last two publications are most useful at the present time and they 
have been quoted extensively in this paper. 
SCOPE AND METHODS OF THE PRESENT WORK. 
In this paper the attempt has been made to give: 1. A general and 
technical discussion of wood. 2. A key to the common commercial 
woods. 3. Short notes on the structure, appearance, common names, 
range, and usefulness of individual species. 4. A very complete index. 
Botanical material has furnished the starting point in correlating the 
name and wood which should go together; the botanical determination 
being made from herbarium material taken from the same tree as is the 
wood specimen ; when the scientific name has been fixed and the structure 
studied, the wood is compared with commercial material until the latter 
can be determined definitely under its different names. Sections, ■ when- 
ever necessary, and as many as were necessary, have been made to deter- 
mine doubtful points of structure. 
The usefulness of this paper should consist in the ready classification 
of the commoner native woods ; in the better understanding of their uses ; 
in the finding of new applications for them and in discovering the 
relationships existing between the woods of the Philippine Islands and 
those :of the rest of the world. 
