Class TV.]

LIST OF WOODS OF BRITISH GUIANA.

143

WOODS OF BRITISH GUIANA.

1. Black greenheart. [856,85c.]

2. Blackheart. [111, 111a.] —

3. Bully-tree, (Mimusops

sp. ?) [91,91a.]

4. Cabacalli. [112, U2a.] -

5. Camara, or tonkin-bean( Dipteryx odor at a,

Willd). [95, 95a.]

6. Coffee tree ( Coffea Ara-

bica). [116, 116a.]

7. Cork-wood ( Pterocarpus

Draco , Linn.: P. sube-rosus, Pers.) [102,102a.]

8. Cork-wood. [1026.]- -

9. Courida (Avicennia nt-tida, Jac.) [103, 103a.]

10. Coutaballi. [110, 110a.]-

11. Crab-wood ( Xylocarpuscarapa , Spreng.; Ca -rapa Guianensis, Aubl.)[108, 108a.]

12. Determa. [107, 107a.] -

13. Greenheart ( XectandraRodicei, Benth.) [85,85a.]

14. Hackia, or Lignum vita?( Guaiacum officinale ,

Linn. ?) [98, 98a.]

Shows a diameter of \\}j inches. In bark. A very hard, fine, close-grained, heavy wood.Duramen deep brown ; recent layers narrow, pale-ochre yellow.

The timber of this tree is used for ship-building, planks, &c., and is considered moredurable than the common green-heart. The specimens sent are from a tree supposedto be about 50 years old.

Shows a diameter of 4 inches. In bark. A soft, light wood ; from the River Demerara.This is a good wood for house frames, and for making furniture. It will square from6 to 7 inches, from 20 to 30 feet long.

Shows a diameter of 12 inches. In bark. A fine close-grained, moderately hard, andrather heavy wood ; from the ltiver Demerara.

The tree yielding this wood is supposed to be a species of Jfitnusops. It is found through-out the colony, but most abundantly in the county of Berbicc. It is of great size, andsquares from 20 to 30 inches, and may be obtained from 20 to 30 feet long. Theweather has little effect upon it, and it is employed for house-frames, posts, floors, &c.The upper portion of the trunk aud branches are manufactured into shingles, wheel-spokes, palings, &c.

Shows a diameter of 4.V inches. In bark. A fine close-grained, moderately hard, andrather heavy wood ; from the River Demerara.

This wood is impregnated with a bitter principle, which defends it against worms;it lasts well under water, and is much used for planking colony craft. It must, how-ever, be fastened with copper nails. It will square from 12 to 16 iuches, or even more,from 40 to 45 feet long.

Shows a diameter of 20 inches. In bark. A fine close-grained, hard, and very heavywood ; from the River Fsscquibo.

This wood is obtained from Dipteryx odorata, 'NVilld.: the tree which produces the well-known tonkin bean. It is hard, tough, and durable in an eminent degree, and it is saidthat a portion of its timber, i inch square, and of a given length, bears 100 lbs. moreweight than any other timber in Guiana of the same dimensions. It is therefore pecu-liarly well adapted for any purpose, where resistance to great pressure is the object,and for shafts, mill-wheels, or cogs. It will square from IS to 20 inches, from 40 to 50feet long. This tree is, however, not very plentiful in this colony.

Shows a diameter of 3 inches. A fine, close-grained, hard, heavy wood, of a beautifulcream white throughout, and having the appearance of box, both in structure andgrowth ; from Canal No. 2, River Demerara.

Shows a diameter of 5 inches. In bark. An exceedingly light and soft, though fine even-grained wood ; from the River Berbice.

A curious excrescence, styled in the label 11 an abutment of the foregoing.” In form,very like rough cork : about an inch in thickness throughout, enveloped in a tliin hardbark. The wood is much softer than in 102 and 102a, and would doubtless afford anexcellent substitute for cork, for entomological purposes. From Troolic Island in theRiver Kssequibo.

An abutment from near the root of the tree. This wood is supposed to be obtained fromPterocarpus Draco , Linn., or P. suberosus, Pers., and is chiefly used as floats for fish-ing-nets.

Shows a diameter of 5.]- inches. In bark. An open-grained, moderately soft, andrather light wood ; from Plantation "Woodlands, River Mahaica.

This wood is obtained from Avicennta nitida, Jacq., a tree of surprising rapidity ofgrowth. These specimens are from a tree five years old. The wood is perishable whenexposed to the atmosphere, but is very durable under ground, and is, therefore, usedin foundations for buildings.

Shows a diameter of 5 inches. In bark. A very fine, close-grained, hard, heavy wood ;from the River Demerara.

The tree which yields this timber grows upon sand-hills; the wood is very hard anddurable, if not exposed to the weather; it is plentiful, and principally used for house-frames, and will square 12 inches, from 30 to 40 feet long.

Shows a diameter of 7.] inches. In bark. A tolerably hard, even-grained, rather lightwood. In great repute, and largely used in the colony for interior work ; from theRiver Demerara.

This wood is obtained from Xylocarpus carapa , Spreng., or Carapa Guiunensis, Aubl, theseeds of which yield the crab-oil. It is a light wood, and takes a high polish, and isused for masts and spars, flooring, partitions, and doors of houses. There are twovarieties, the red and white. These sj>ecimens are the white. It squares from 14to 16 inches, from 40 to 60 feet long.

Shows a diameter of C inches. In bark. A rather hard, but not very close or even-grained wood. The most valuable of the British Guiana woods for ship-building pur-poses, where it is used chiefly for the bottoms of vessels; grows to a much larger sizethan represented in the present specimen ; from the River Demerara.

This wood is used for masts, booms, and planking for colonial craft; and as insects donot infest it, it is well adapted for chests, wardrobes, &c. It will square from 14 to16 inches, from 40 to 60 feet in length

Shows a diameter of 12 inches. In hark. A very hard, heavy, fine, but not even-grainedwood. Duramen deep brown, recent layers broad pale yellow ; from the River De-merara.

The Greenheart tree is very abundant, and its timbers, squaring from 18 to 24 inches,can be procured from 60 to 70 feet long. It is a fine-grained hard wood, welladapted for the planking of vessels, house-frames, wharves, bridges, and otherpurposes where great strength and durability are required. Mr. Manifold, engineer ofthe Demerara Railway, states, that this is the best timber for resisting tensile and com-pressive strains, and is therefore well adapted for kelsons for ships, aud beams.

Diameter 15 inches; from the River Demerara.

This wood, known in the colony as lignum vita, is said to be obtained from Guaiacumofficinale, Linn. ; but this seems doubtful, as the tree producing the wood attains aheight of from 50 to 60 feet, aud squares 16 to 18 inches, whilst the Guaiacum officinaleis described as a comparatively small tree, about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. It is used