SOME SCIENTIFIC POINTS IN CABINET MAKING. 
and wens of plants, but the trees don’t die of them.” I could not and 
would not argue the’ point, but said I would examine such growths 
further upon returning to Australia: This I did in several States and 
in many forests, having handled almost acres of sections of burrs, 
stumps, and wens. 
After the lamented death of Professor Stewart, whose lifelong and 
painstaking research, and whose elaborate preparations, were the more 
marvellous because of his imperfect eyesight, he was succeeded by Pro- 
fessor Arthur Keith. Again in London two years after I renewed the 
subject to that eminent man, who very much desired sections and 
specimens. But I hold that the examinations should be on the spot 
and during the life of the plant. It is too wide a subject to more than 
mention, but it should be said that the plants do and must die because 
of certain abnormal growths. I caused a remarkable wen of perfect 
solidity and about 8 feet in diameter to be removed from a so-called 
mahogany tree on the south coast of New South Wales. We remarked 
that the misdirected energy—so to speak—and the extreme complexity 
of the growth, added to the enormous strain and pressure upon the 
contained parts, must be all but a fatal tax upon the tree. Thé tree 
proved to be completely hollow and barely living, although the great 
wen was sound in all parts. Commercially, however, we did not use 
the wen when brought to Sydney. z ; 
It is a mistake to jump to conclusions as to these wens on different 
kinds of trees being’ due to insect attack. Many of them are perfectly 
free from perforations or faults of any kind even when of extraordinary 
size, and it is usual that a tree so affected will show similar growths 
in other parts of the trunk or branches, whereas none of its neighbours 
are affected at all. Wens have been procured from Australian red 
cedar (cedrela)—not related to the true cedars, which are not so 
troubled—that completely surrounded the tree and exercised such pres- 
sure that the fibres of the stem were crushed out of shape and position 
and—to all appearance—thereby caused the decay. Such a wen, about 
12 feet in diameter, had to be cut in pieces for transport. The sec- 
‘tions, when the burr was sliced, were of extreme beauty, much harder 
than the ordinary planks, and displayed not the smallest imperfection 
such as the presence of any insect life would necessarily produce. Nor 
is the cause trauma in any form for the distortions may be seen in 
their earliest beginning, and in many parts of the trees. Also might 
be mentioned the ulceration that may be observed upon white gums, 
and which the normal principle of growth seeks in vain to repair. 
Quite possibly the principle of growth is connected with the infinitely 
small and so is for ever beyond research, but those who love knowledge 
for its own sake in relation to natural phenomena will find in these 
problems a life-long field for study. These questions are of intense 
interest to those who are brought into daily contact with them. It is 
so in the logging camps of Washington and British Columbia, in New 
Zealand, and the dense so-called scrubs of North Queensland. 
Most Australian trees, no matter of what kind—excepting only the 
araucarias—have a tendency to sinuous growth, which greatly adds to 
the beauty of the timber, though not always to its utility. This is 
probably familiar in the figure of the pretty Queensland maple 
C.4094.—5 177 
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