Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1879 
Fragrant  Woods, 
261 
Tasmania  (Atberosperma  moschata),  and  Croton  cascarilla  and  C.  eleutheria,  of  the 
(Bahamas.    Essential  oils  are  obtained  from  many  of  these. 
The  study  and  consideration  of  woods  may  be  influenced  by  many  causes,  accord- 
to  the  purpose  to  which  they  are  to  be  applied.  The  cabinet-maker  will  group 
them  according  to  the  disposition  of  their  colors  and  the  distinction  of  their  fibres, 
and  will  sometimes  also  take  into  consideration  the  odor,  which  is  an  essential  point 
in  the  eyes  of  the  perfumer.  As  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  any  grouping  of  the 
fragrant  or  odorous  woods,  I  propose  condensing  a  few  observations  as  a  guide  to 
those  who  may  be  interested  in  this  class  of  woods,  which  is  not,  after  all,  extensive, 
and  only  a  few  of  which  are  as  yet  much  used.  Two  or  three  are  tolerably  well 
iknown,  such  as  camphor,  sandal  and  cedar-woods;  others  have  not  been  so  gener- 
ally described. 
The  bark  of  Ocotea  aromatica,  from  New  Caledonia,  possesses  a  strong  sassafras 
flavor,  and  there  is  a  fragrant  bark  yielded  by  the  Alyxia  aromatica,  of  Java  and 
•Cochin  China  ;  but  as  I  have  not  met  with  specimens,  I  cannot  tell  whether  the 
odor  penetrates  to  the  wood.  The  Ixora  [Coffea)  odorata  of  Tahiti  has,  however, 
I  know,  a  close  and  fragrant  wood. 
In  Tasmania  and  Australia  we  have  the  musk-wood  [Eurybia  argophylla),  with  a 
timber  of  a  pleasant  fragrance  and  a  beautiful  mottled  color,  well  adapted  to  turnery, 
cabinet  work  and  perfumery  purposes.  The  native  boxwood  (Bursaria  spinosa,  Cav.) 
has  also  a  pleasant  but  fleeting  scent.  The  scent-wood  of  the  same  island  {Alyxia 
buxifolia,  R.  Br.)  has  an  odor  similar  to  that  of  the  tonquin  bean.  It  is  but  a  strag- 
gling seaside  shrub  of  three  to  five  inches  in  diameter,  and  consequently  does  not 
produce  wood  of  any  size,  but  is  fine  and  close-grained,  of  a  lightish-brown  mottled 
appearance. 
In  the  colony  of  Western  Australia  we  have  the  raspberry  jam  wood,  a  species  of 
Eucalyptus,  which  derives  its  popular  name  from  the  similarity  of  the  scent  to  that 
preserve.    It  is  a  handsome  wood,  well  fitted  for  cabinet  purposes. 
Many  of  the  Australian  woods  exhibit  a  peculiar  beauty  of  structure,  which 
adapts  them  for  small  furniture  and  turnery  uses.  Some  are  highly  fragrant  and 
retain  their  agreeable  odor  for  a  considerable  period  of  time,  which  renders  them 
additionally  pleasant  and  acceptable  in  the  form  of  ornamental  articles  for  the 
boudoir  and  drawing-room.  The  scented  myall  {Acacia  homalophylla)  is  a  very 
hard  and  heavy  wood,  which  has  an  intense  and  delightful  smell  of  violets. 
It  has  a  dark  and  beautiful  duramen,  which  makes  it  applicable  to  numerous  pur- 
poses of  the  cabinet-maker  and  the  wood-turner,  and  an  infinite  variety  of  minor 
uses.  It  rarely  exceeds  a  foot  in  diameter,  but  has  been  used  as  veneers.  This  tree 
is  common  in  many  parts  of  Australia  ;  since  the  London  Exhibition  of  1862,  when 
the  caskets,  pipes  and  other  articles  shown  from  Queensland,  and  the  remarkable 
property  it  possesses  became  generally  known  to  European  manufactures,  the  wood 
was  in  request  for  making  glove,  handkerchief  and  other  fancy  boxes.  As  long  as 
it  remains  unpolished  it  preserves  this  peculiar  fragrance  of  violets,  which  does  not 
occur  with  such  perfection  in  any  other  known  substance. 
The  desert  sandarac  pine  (Callitris  verrucosa)  is  a  tree  of  moderate  size  from  the 
wicinity  of  the  river  Murray,  seldom  attaining  to  more  than  eighteen  inches  in 
