298 
Gleanings  in  Materia  3Iedica. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  18*6. 
thickness  of  alburnum ,  14  mm.  Color  of  bark,  grayish  brown;  albur- 
num yellow  with  yellowish  brown  zones;  heart  wood  yellowish-brown- 
ish gray,  and  in  the  centre  yellowish-grayish-brown;  pith  a  light  dot 
in  the  centre.  The  bark  adheres  closely  to  the  wood,  which  is  moder- 
ately hard,  faintly  odorous,  and  nearly  tasteless,  while  the  bark  has  an 
Fig.  4.—  West  Indian  Sandal  Wood.   Transverse  Section.   X.  80. 
odor  resembling  sandal,  and  a  bitterish  taste.  The  wood  (Fig.  4)  con- 
sists of  xyleni  fibres,  pitted  vessels,  and  one-rowed  medullary  rays,  the 
cells  of  which  are  thickened,  tabular,  and  in  the  duramen,  contain 
resin.  The  vessels  vary  greatly  in  size,  and  are  usually  in  single  radial 
rows  of  two  to  ten  or  more.  Crystals  of  calcium  oxalate  are  arranged 
in  single  vertical  rows,  and  on  transverse  section,  form  usually  loose 
concentric  rings,  each  ring  corresponding  to  one  year's  growth  of  the 
tree.  The  medulla  cells  are  irregular  hexagonal,  thickened  and  pitted. 
No  essential  oil  is  present  in  the  wood.  Freed  from  cork,  the  bark  is 
light  red  brown,  and  internally  pale  brown.  Outside  the  narrow  layer 
of  cambium  is  a  layer  of  soft  bast  tissue,  made  up  of  the  usual  elements. 
Next  is  a  broad  layer  containing  numerous  bast  fibres  in  loose  layers, 
alternating  with  layers  of  soft  bast  tissue.  Both  these  tissue  systems 
contain  numerous  isolated  oil  cells,  having  a  large  diameter,  and  ex- 
tended in  a  vertical  direction.  In  about  the  middle  of  the  outer  corti- 
cal parenchyma  is  situated  a  layer  of  three  or  four  tangentially  extended 
sclerenchymatous  cells,  and  isolated  groups  of  stone  cells  are  found 
