128 
75 per cent. ; up to 200-225 C., probably an alcohol which on oxidation gave a ketonc with a coumarm- 
like odour, and having the composition (' H 14 0; up to 2G3-274 C., a ses.jiiiterpene ( 15 H Z4 , which i; 
optically inactive, and having a specific gravity of 0-910 and a refractive index of 1-50. It is ;i dievelie 
sesquiterpene, gives no nitrosochloride, and does not form a stable compound with bromine or 
hydrochloric acid. Pharm. Journ. xxii (4th Ser.), p. 755 (30th June, 1906). There is also a briefer 
abstract in the Yearbook of Pharmacy for 1907, p. 129. 
Timber. An early report on this timber, referring to specimens from the 
Counties of Cumberland and Camden, N.S.W., sent to the Paris Exhibition of 1855, 
and to that of London, 1862, is from the pen of Sir William Macarthur, who wrote : 
A small tree, with very close-grained, hard, white, or whity-brown wood, which, when seasoned 
carefully, is excellent for turning, and promises to be good for wood-engraving ; sound transverse sections 
of more than 10 to 16 inches would be rare. 
It furnishes a light, even-grained wood, which attracted some attention at the 
International Exhibition of 1862. Blocks were prepared from it and submitted to 
Prof, de la Motte, of King's College, who reported as follows : 
I consider this wood well adapted to certain kinds of wood engraving. It is not equal to Turkey 
box, but it is superior to that generally used for posters, and I have no doubt it would answer for the rollers 
of mangles and wringing machines. 
Mr. W. G. Smith, in a report in the Gardeners' Chronicle for July 26th, 1873, 
says : 
The wood is suitable only for bold outlines ; compared with box it is soft and tough, and requires 
more force to cut than box. The toughness of the wood causes the tools to drag back, so that great care 
is required in cutting to prevent the lines chipping. 
The above is the gist of a report by J. R. Jackson in Journ. Soc. Arts, 
xxxiii, 567. 
In December, 1889, 1 wrote as follows in a Sydney journal : 
Cheesewood is a moderately hard, homogeneous wood, which has been brought forward during the 
last few years as a substitute for boxwood in engraving. Like ivory, boxwood is getting scarcer year by 
year, and no efficient substitute for either the animal or the vegetable product has yet been found. The 
verdict in regard to cheesewood was a guarded, half-hearted sort of deliverance, and I am not aware that 
the wood has passed beyond the " sample " stage. A wood not entirely suitable would involve serious 
consequences to a skilled wood engraver, and therefore cheesewood has uphill work before it. I have 
seen cheesewood seasoned (or rather not seasoned) in a disgraceful manner, and before making recom- 
mendations for the special utilisation of particular timbers, it would be well to devote more attention to 
that most important operation connected with timber seasoning. Until we can get timber merchants 
and others to patiently season timbers, and then patiently set about ascertaining their probable uses, 
many of our timbers will remain unappreciated. In New South Wales we have a range of timbers suited 
for almost all purposes of use and ornament timbers which are not excelled by those of any single country 
in the world. But we have not got beyond the alphabet of our knowledge of the uses of 90 per cent, of 
our timber trees. 
But, returning to our muttons, cheesewood is a splendid working and turning timber, and should 
prove useful for tool handles. If it may not yet be promoted to the dignity of a substitute for box-wood 
in engraving, it would form an efficient substitute for rules, miscellaneous philosophical apparatus, &c. 
It will be observed that most of the uses above referred to are those for wood- 
engraving, now rapidly becoming an obsolete art. 
