to nails and bolts, and stands well if properly seasoned. A cubic foot weighs from 30 of 40 pounds.

1718. POPLAR. The Populus of botanists, whereof five species are grown in England: the common white poplar, the black, the aspen or trembling poplar, the abele or great white poplar, and that of Lombardy. The wood of this tree is only fit for the flooring of inferior rooms where there is not much wear. Evelyn attributes to this wood the property of burning" untowardly," rather mouldering than maintaining any solid heat. Its colour is a yellow or brown white. The annual rings, whereof one side is a little darker than the other, making each year's growth visible, are of an uniform texture. The best sorts are the Lombardy, the black, and the common white poplar. Of the Lombardy poplar, the weight of a cubic foot is about 24 pounds; of the aspen and black poplar, 26 pounds; and of the white poplar, about 33 pounds.

1719. ALDER (Betula alnus). A tree delighting in wet places by the banks of rivers, and which furnished the material, says Vitruvius, for the piles whereon the whole of the buildings of Ravenna stand. In a dry situation it is unfit for employment, on account of its early rot when exposed to the weather or to mere damp, and its susceptibility of engendering worms. Evelyn says that it was used for the piles upon which the celebrated bridge of the Rialto at Venice was founded in 1591; but we have no certain data by which such assertion can be maintained. There is, however, no doubt that it may be advantageously employed in situations where it is constantly under water.

Its colour is of a red yellow, of different shades, but nearly uniform; which latter quality is exhibited in its texture.

From its softness it is easily worked, and seems adapted, therefore, for carving. In a dry state the weight of a cubic foot varies from 36 to 50 pounds.

1720. ELM (Ulmus). In Great Britain five species of this tree abound, whereof the Ulmus campestris, common in the woods and hedges of the southern parts of England, is a hard and durable wood, but is rarely used except for coffins. The Ulmus suberosa, or cork-barked elm, is an inferior sort, and is very common in Sussex.

1721. The Ulmus Montana is the most common species in Europe, and particularly in the northern counties of England. It is more generally known by the name of the broadleaved elm or wych hazel. Without enumerating the other varieties, whereof the Dutch elm (Ulmus major) is good for nothing, we shall merely observe, that the Ulmus glabra, common in Herefordshire, Essex, and the north and north-eastern counties of England, grows to the largest size and is most esteemed, whilst the Dutch elm is the worst. The elm is a durable timber when constantly wet, as a proof whereof we have only to mention that it was used for the piles on which the old London Bridge stood. Indeed, its durability under water is well known; but for the general purposes of building it is of little value, and it rarely falls to the lot of the architect to be obliged to use it.

1722. The colour of the heart-wood is darker than that of oak, and of a redder brown. The sapwood is of yellow or brown-white colour. It is porous, cross and coarse grained. has a peculiar smell, twists and warps very much in drying, and shrinks considerably in breadth and length. Though difficult to work, it bears the driving of bolts and nails better than most other sorts of timber. The weight of a cubic foot, when dry, varies from 36 to 48, seasoned from 37 to 50 pounds. From experiment it seems that in seasoning it shrinks one forty-fourth part of its width.

1723. ASH (Fraxinus excelsior). This, the most valuable of the genus, is common throughout Europe and the northern parts of Asia. It grows rapidly, and of it the young is more valuable than the old wood. It is much affected by the difference of the soils in which it grows. It will not endure when subject to alternations of damp and moisture, though sufficiently durable when constantly in a dry situation. Its pores, if cut in the spring, are of a reddish colour, and it is improved by water-seasoning. Evelyn says, that when felled in full sap, the worm soon takes to it; and therefore recommends its being felled in the months from November to February. The texture is compact and porous. the compact side of the annual ring being dark in colour, whence the annual rings are distinct. The general colour is brown, resembling that of oak; but it is more veined, and the veins darker than those of oak. The timber of the young tree is a white, approaching brown, with a greenish hue. It has no peculiar taste or smell, is difficult to work, and is too flexible for use in building, beside the important want of the character of durability. The weight of a cubic foot varies from 35 to 52 pounds; and it is to be observed, when the weight is much less than 45 pounds the timber is that of an old tree. 1724. SYCAMORE (Acer pseudo-platanus), usually called the plane tree in the northern part of the island, is common in Britain and on the mountains of Germany. It is rapid in growth, and the wood is durable when it escapes the worm, to which it is quite as liable as beech. The use of it in buildings is not common, but for furniture it is valuable. The colour is a brown white, yellowish, and sometimes inclining to white. Texture uniform annual rings indistinct. It is not so hard as beech, brittle, and generally easy to work. A cubic foot, when seasoned, weighs from 34 to 42 pounds. Ware says that there are old

2

houses in this country floored with sycamore and wainscoted with poplar. It seems well enough calculated for floors.

1725. BIRCH. Betula alba, or common birch, is a species of alder, to which article the reader is referred (1719). The American birch, from Canada, is but little superior to the European birch. The Russian birch, on account of its clean light colour and silvery grain, has been for many years extensively employed for bedroom furniture.

1726. A description of fir (Wellingtonia gigantea) has been lately introduced from our colony of Victoria, in Vancouver's Island, on the western side of North America. It is sent in logs, deals, and planks. Instead, however, of being only 14 to 16 inches square, and 60 feet long at the maximum, as in the case of Baltic timber, one stick of this timber has been sent not less than 127 feet long, and about 42 inches square at one third of the height measuring from the butt end, which end was about 50 inches square. It contained 1307 cubic feet of timber; this is not an exceptional size. A tree is reported to have been cut down lately, the circumference of which was 90 feet, and its height 325 feet; the bark was in some places 4 feet thick. The tree, sound and solid, contained 250,000 feet of timber. It was supposed to be 3,100 years old. G. R. Burnell states the tenacity of this timber to be greater than, and its resistance to a crushing weight apparently superior to, Baltic timber. When loaded in the centre to the point of instantaneous rupture, the Vancouver's island wood bore weights which were to those borne by English oak as 13 to 12, and to those borne by the Baltic fir as 13 to 8. Three-inch cubes of the three woods were subjected to weights of 45 tons each, or 5 tons (11,240 lbs.) on the inch superficial, when the permanent elasticity of oak was not affected, that of the fir only slightly so, whilst the Baltic timber was permanently and perceptibly compressed.

1726a. For joiner's work, the straightness, freedom from knots, deep warm colour, and beauty of the grain, places this timber above any other of the fir or pine woods; whilst its greater hardness would in staircases, floors, &c., compensate for any slight increase in the price of labour for working it. It has been employed by Mr. Burnell in the joiner's work of an office in Lincoln's Inn Fields. It seems to affect iron somewhat as does oak.

1727. MAHOGANY (Swietenia Mahogoni) is a native of the West Indies and the country round the Bay of Honduras. The tree is said to be of rapid growth; its trunk often exceeds 40 feet in length and 6 feet in diameter. Its Spanish name is caôba. Spanish mahogany is imported from Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, St. Domingo, and some other of the West India Islands and the Spanish Main. The best quality is considered to come from the sea-board on the south part of the island of San Domingo or Hayti. The logs are from 20 to 26 inches square, and about 10 feet in length. It is close grained, hard, sometimes strongly figured, and generally of a rich brown colour, darker than Honduras; but its pores frequently appear as if chalk had been rubbed into them. It takes a very high polish with hand labour; and French polishing brings out its flower with great lustre.

1727a. Honduras mahogany is imported in logs of larger size than the above, that is, from 2 to 4 feet square, and from 12 to 18 feet in length; logs 40 feet in length have been obtained; planks 6 to 7 feet wide are occasionally imported; but 5 feet square and 15 feet long are the more ordinary dimensions. It is so distinctly inferior to the Spanish quality, that no ordinary judge can possibly be mistaken in the normal samples. In weight it is lighter; and it is of a straighter and more open or spongy grain, without much flower, and therefore little sought after by cabinet-makers. The worst kinds are those most filled with grey specks, from which Spanish mahogany, except the Cuba, is comparatively free.

1727b. Spanish mahogany is in this country far too valuable to be used in common building. It sometimes sells for as much as 61. per foot cube, when good fir, of nearly equal value for such purposes, would only cost 2s. at the maximum. In Jamaica, mahogany has been frequently employed for floors, joists, rafters, shingles, &c.; and ships have been built of it; for which last purpose, the circumstance of its allowing shot to be buried in it without splintering, makes it peculiarly suitable. Soon after its introduction into this country in 1724, when a specimen was sent to Dr. Gibbons by his brother, a West India captain, it was employed for doors, as at the Treasury, by W. Kent, in 1733. The better qualities are reserved for small articles of cabinet-work and furniture, the best being employed in the form of veneers, of which twenty-one cuts are now got out of an inch thickSolid work for more general purposes, such as handrails of stairs, sashes, sash-doors, and ordinary counting-house and office fittings, &c., is worked out of Honduras mahogany, which is also employed as the groundwork for veneers of the finer quality.

ness.

1727c. It is generally sold at per foot superficial, one inch thick; the common qualities at 58. to 58. 6d. per cubic foot. It holds with glue better than any other wood. Of Honduras mahogany, the quality called 'common southern' weighs about 26 lbs. ; 'superior northern' about 42 lbs. ; 'good northern' about 32 lbs; and common northern about 36 lbs., per cubic foot. All these qualities are used in shipbuilding; the lightest, for furniture. Spanish mahogany weighs 48 lbs. 6 oz., the best from 50 lbs. to 54 lbs. per cubic foot. All kinds of this timber are said to be very durable, and free from the attack of worms when kept constantly dry. They do not warp or crack under the influence of

the sun, but they do not resist alternations of great wetness and dryness. They shrink but little in drying, and twist and warp less than any other wood.

1727d. African mahogany (Swietenia or Khaya Senegalensis), from Gambia, is a more recent importation; it twists much more than either of the above, and is decidedly inferion to them in all respects except hardness. Small quantities of mahogany are also received from Jamaica and the other West India islands, but they are of a quality so inferior even to the Honduras variety, that they are practically unknown to timber merchants. Florida cedar and other varieties are frequently made to pass as mahogany in cheap works.

1728. TEAK (Tectona grandis), has of late years formed a valuable timber for shipbuilding; and to a small extent in house, and even carriage, joinery. The best varieties are obtained from the ports of Rangoon or Moulmein (called Moulmein teak), and from the coast of Malabar (called East Indian teak). It is by no means rare to meet with sticks of perfectly straight teak 60 or 70 feet long, and about 24 to 30 inches square. The wood is of a light brown colour, porous, very hard, tough, and when sound, of great strength and tenacity. It derives much of its value from the aromatic oily substance with which it is more or less saturated in the fresh state; but this does not prevent its attack by insects whilst in the forest, consequently the trees turn out to be very defective. The wood works well; takes a good polish, and though porous, it is very durable in exposed situations: it is considered that its oily properties render it less injurious to iron than oak. The tenacity of Moulmein teak is 15,000 lbs. per superficial inch. Some fine planks from Rangoon were nearly 34 feet wide.

1728a. MORUNG SAUL (Shorea robusta), of Nepaul, in the East Indies, is in great repute for shipbuilding. It is a heavy, close-grained, light brown wood. This timber is considered to be the most valuable and extensively used of all the trees of India, but the valu of it is much diminished from the injudicious mode in which it is squared. The saul or sâl timber brought to Calcutta is seldom more than 30 feet in length. In strength and tenacity it is considerably superior to the best teak, compared with which, Captain Baker's experiments prove that its strength is about as 1121 to 869. From Major H. Campbell's experiments, unseasoned saul broke with a weight of 1308 lbs.; seasoned saul with 1319 lbs.; and teak wood with 1091 lbs. Considered as a building wood, it is somewhat apt to shrink unless very well seasoned, (Juror's Reports, 1851).

17286. MORRA (Mora excelsa), sometimes called Demerara locust, is sent from Demerara in South America. It is a valuable timber for shipbuilding.

1728c. GREENHEART (Laurus chloroxylon, or Nectandr i rodiæi), imported from the English colony of British Guiana, and Brazil, possesses the reputation of immunity from the attacks of marine boring worms; and for this reason it is now largely used in hydraulic works Mr. Burnell has stated his conviction from what he saw, especially of two logs, in the West India Docks in 1860, that this timber does suffer from the attacks of land insects; and he was at that time in possession of a piece of the timber from Victor Bay, Panama, which was completely riddled by the Teredo navalis. A writer, commenting on this statement, says that " his experience proves that greenheart is exempt from the therosion by the teredo, but that a molluse is found alive in it when arriving here from the West Indies. The worm is found in sizes from the lymexylon to the tere lo, but it is of a different species, and seems not to live when this wood is used in such constructions as dock gates, in this country." The timber squares from 18 to 24 inches, but usually arrives about 16 inches square and 70 feet in length. It is a hard, heavy, fine, but not even-grained wood; it proves strong and durable in positions that are alternately wet and dry.

1728d. Among the other useful hard woods are:-I. The PEON, or Poon wood, an Indian wood of Travancore, East Indies, formerly imported to some extent. from 2 to 4 feet in circumference and 80 feet in length; but latterly it has been regarded with such disfavour that it is now hardly ever imported. II. The KoWRIE, a New Zealand wood. III. The Australian RED CEDAR. IV. The SABICUE, from Cuba, which was used for the steps of the stairs in the Great Exhibition building of 1851, and are now in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. It makes excellent beams and planks. A heavy specimen obtained of this wood was "a portion of a large beam, which broke merely in falling from a truck!" V. The IRON BARK, of Van Diemen's Land, Australia, is a very hard and compact wood, with a specific gravity heavier than water. VI. BORNEO Wood, imported from Sarawak, was used in 1865 for the floors and staircase in a warehouse in Gresham Street West. It is of so peculiar a character that it broke nearly all the saws used to reduce it to battens: it is light brown in colour, with a texture very similar to teak. It may probably be the Bilan, or iron wood of that country, said to be impervious to the attacks of the white ant. It has not been known to decay when immersed either in fresh or salt water. An engineer who had resided in Borneo for five years, states he had never seen a rotten piece of Bilian wood.

1728e. Besides the weights of various woods given in the text (as marked *) the subjoined list of the weight per foot cube in pounds avoirdupois, may be useful.

1728f. The chief woods employed in shipbuilding and acknowledged as "first-rate " by the authorities at Lloyds, are eight in number. These are, I. English oak; 11. American live oak; III. African oak; IV. Morung Saul; V. East Indian Teak; VI. Greenheart; VII. Morra; and VIII. Iron Bark.

1729. In timber yards, deals are sold by the long hundred or six score; thus the "standard" of deals is reckoned as 120-12 ft. x 1 in. x 11 ins., but varying lengths and thicknesses are imported (See par. 2362 and 2363).

The measurements have been reduced to one standard of 12 ft. long, 3 in. thick, and 9 in. wide. Two of the latest works for calculating deals according to this, the Petersburg standard hundred, are, J. Smith, Companion to Hoppus; Handbook of Tables for the use of Timber Merchants, &c., London, 1860; and Grandy, Timber Importers', &c. Standard Guide, 8vo., London, 1865, to which latter work we are glad to refer the student, and from which we select the following extracts :

1729a. "American Ports.-At Quebec, there are three qualities of spruce deals, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Irregular size scantlings are scarcely ever shipped from this port, the general run being battens, 7 x 3; deals, 9 × 3; and planks, 11 × 3, 7 × 2, 9 × 2, and 11 × 2; general lengths from 8 to 14 feet. All under 8 feet are classed as "ends." Yellow pine battens, deals, and planks are shipped as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd qualities. Battens are not so valuable as deals and planks, some of the latter running 11 to 30 inches; the finer qualities bear a high rate.

17296. St. John's deals rank after those of Quebec in quality. Battens, deals, and planks run from 8 to 26 feet; all lengths under 8 feet being classed as ends. All deals are scarcely ever classed into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, but taken by the run; the sizes 7 × 3, 9 × 3, and 11 × 3, being the highest in price. Irregular scantlings, such as 3 × 3, 4 × 3, 6 x 3, 5 x 2, &c., are less per thousand.

1729c. Pugwash, Miramichi, and other Lower Ports. Battens, deals, and planks are obtained as at St. John's. The deal is a closer grain, but coarser, and hence not so valuable. The lengths run from 8 to 14 feet, all under 8 feet being 'ends.' Scarcely any irregular scantlings are shipped from these ports. The square timber at the American ports is generally purchased by the cubic foot.

1729d. Baltic Ports. -Memel. Battens and deals are scarce; planks form the bulk of the timber imported. They all run from 8 to 20 feet. They are generally sold by 720 feet run of 11 × 3, = 1 Petersburg standard. Battens and deals run 7 x 3 and 9 × 3. Christiania. Battens and deals, and Drammen deals run 9 × 3, 7 × 3, or 7 × 24. Crown Memel. Square timber is generally sold by the 50 running feet, as 1st middling, and 2nd middling. But "undersized" timber, that is, under 12 inches square, is sold by 50 cubic feet, or by 50 running feet. There are also "short lengths of undersized " timber.

1729e. Home Trade. At London, pine deals are sold by the Petersburg, and spruce deals by the London, standard. Square timber is sold by the load, or 50 cube feet, or by the cube foot, calliper measurement. At Liverpool and Bristol, deals are sold by the Petersburg standard; square timber by the load or foot, string measurement. At Glasgow, deals are sold by the cube foot; square timber by the cube foot, string measurement. At Dublin, deals are sold by the London or Dublin standard of 120, 12 × 9 × 3; square timber by the ton of 40 feet, string measurement."

1729f. These timbers are used in building for the undermentioned purposes :— Joists and main timbers: The largest, of Dantzic, Memel or Riga, fir; those of 10 or 12 inches square, from Sweden; those of 8 inches square, from Norway.