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THEPRINCIPAL SPECIES OF WOOD:THEIR CHARACTERISTIC PROPERTIES.
Member of the AmericanSociety of Civil Engineers, etc.
PREFACE.
The following is a brief untechnical presentation of generalfeatures characterizing economically important species ofwood. It is the result of notes originally brought togetherfrom many already existing sources and later augmented, andverified so far as possible for the present use, by personalobservation. The work of preparation has not been as simpleas the result would indicate, and although great care has beentaken to check each fact, errors do no doubt exist, althoughit is not believed that there are important ones.
Engineers while writing upon woods have, save exceptionally,emphasized strength beyond most other properties.Other works for expert foresters or botanists are of necessitytoo special, voluminous, fragmental, or technical for the casualstudent. Some popular books on trees, as distinct fromwoods, are available. The present form is distinct from theseand is intended for those who are not foresters or botanists,but who use woods or desire knowledge of their distinguishingproperties. Allusions to trees, historical and other references,aside from those directly regarding woods, are made forcompleteness and in order to mark, distinguish, or separatethe species.
Acknowledgments are particularly due to the