ABIES DOUGLASII. 
/ ^ 
15 
Columbia, says, that the wood is rather coarse grained and liable to shrink ; but is more used for lumber 
than any other, being adapted for all kinds of rough work exposed to the weather. 
Dr Newberry, whose report relates chiefly to the district of the Willamette Valley, a little farther to 
the south, says that the timber, like that of most of the Spruces, is harder and less pleasant to work than 
that of the Pines. It is, however, very stiff, makes excellent planking, joists, and timber, and for these 
purposes it is very largely used both in Oregon and California. 
The wood, according to Dr Bigelow, again (op. cit., iv. 17), is coarse grained, rough, and hard, so 
much so as to preclude its being used as Pine lumber ; but it forms most excellent building timber. At 
San Francisco, Sacramento, and other cities of California, its timber is used almost exclusively for making 
plank roads, side walks, and piling ; and, as we have already said, on the same authority, probably one- 
fourth of the city of San Francisco is thus built on piles, and the wharves at the latter place are built 
exclusively of this timber. Now that a railway crosses the Rocky Mountains, it will furnish railway tires, 
equal, if not superior, to those of any other wood in the west. 
There may be some little doubt as to which of the varieties Dr Bigelow speaks of, as he passed the 
districts of both ; but from his references to San Francisco and other cities, it is plain that, so far as 
regards them, he is speaking of the Coast variety. 
Mr Robert Brown (the Collector for the British Columbia Botanical Association), whose experience 
of it, though extending over the whole extent of the Pacific slope of the Rocky Mountains, was yet more 
especially extensive in British Columbia, where the tree attains its maximum of development, speaks of it 
as liable to warp—in this respect differing from the statement by Dr Findley, above referred to. In a 
private note, with which we were favoured by Mr Brown, he states that houses built of boards sawn from fresh 
timber will so contract as to leave a space of between one and two inches between the edges of the boards. 
Its strength and tenacity, however, are well vouched for. The following notes upon these points are quoted 
from a French Official Report made by M. Serress, Naval Engineer, Cherbourg, dated 6th April i860 :— 
“ Twelve specimens of squared mast timber [Abies Dotiglasii) from Vancouver Island were sent to Cherbourg by Mr Thatcher in order to be 
experimented upon. They were all placed amongst timber of the first class ; they were almost wholly free from knots throughout the main trunk, 
and the few knots, which were at the head, were small, and adhered closely to the surrounding wood. 
“ When received, the wood appeared very flexible ; the pieces taken off the angles, in the process of rounding the masts, were very long, and 
capable of being twisted several times without breaking. 
“ Resistance.—h\ order to determine the resistance of the new wood it was compared with Florida Pine,* Pin du Nord (Scotch Pine?), and 
Canada Pine, specimens of each being bent until they broke. 
“ The pieces experimented upon were 0.493 metre in length and 0.045 square metre in sectional area. These pieces were placed on two 
knife edges, 0.40 metre apart, and were bent by means of pressure applied to a third edge between the other two. Each time the pressure was 
applied, it was continued until the flexure had remained constant for about a minute, when the pressure was removed, in order that the elasticity 
of the wood might be ascertained. Beginning with a weight of 200 kilos., the pressure was increased by 50 kilos., at a time, until the wood broke. 
The following table shews the average pressure at which the pieces experimented upon broke :—Florida, 870 kilos. ; Vancouver, 866 kilos. ; Nord, 
800 kilos.; Canada, 635 kilos.” 
The results of the above experiments are shewn in the subjoined table, in which R denotes the 
resistance to rupture per square centimetre, R the limit of elasticity per square centimetre, E the co¬ 
efficient of elasticity per square centimetre:— 
R 
R' 
E 
Florida ..... 
573 
279 
88.771 
Vancouver ..... 
57o 
277 
89.492 
Nord ..... 
526 
274 
92.024 
Canada ..... 
4i7 
252 
60.965 
As may be seen from this table, the Vancouver timber was proved to be very nearly, though not quite, 
equal to that of Florida. 
“ Density .—In order that the hydrometrical state of the specimens experimented on might be the same, they were kept for a long time 
exposed to the same influences. Each piece was 0.493 metre long, so that its volume might be one cubic decimetre. Careful weighings gave 
the following results :—Florida, 0.652 kilos. ; Nord, 0.630 kilos. ; Vancouver, 0.572 kilos. ; Canada, 0.481 kilos. 
* We presume this to be Pinus australis (also called Pimcs palustris). 
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Five 
