* For general bibliography, see [p. 4.]
Appendix.
HOW TO DISTINGUISH THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WOOD.[*]
By B. E. Fernow and Filibert Roth.
The carpenter or other artisan who handles different woods, becomes familiar with those he employs frequently, and learns to distinguish them thru this familiarity, without usually being able to state the points of distinction. If a wood comes before him with which he is not familiar, he has, of course, no means of determining what it is, and it is possible to select pieces even of those with which he is well acquainted, different in appearance from the general run, that will make him doubtful as to their identification. Furthermore, he may distinguish between hard and soft pines, between oak and ash, or between maple and birch, which are characteristically different; but when it comes to distinguishing between the several species of pine or oak or ash or birch, the absence of readily recognizable characters is such that but few practitioners can be relied upon to do it. Hence, in the market we find many species mixed and sold indiscriminately.
To identify the different woods it is necessary to have a knowledge of the definite, invariable differences in their structure, besides that of the often variable differences in their appearance. These structural differences may either be readily visible to the naked eye or with a magnifier, or they may require a microscopical examination. In some cases such an examination can not be dispensed with, if we would make absolutely sure. There are instances, as in the pines, where even our knowledge of the minute anatomical structure is not yet sufficient to make a sure identification.
In the following key an attempt has been made—the first, so far as we know, in English literature—to give a synoptical view of the distinctive features of the commoner woods of the United States, which are found in the markets or are used in the arts. It will be observed that the distinction has been carried in most instances no further than to genera or classes of woods, since the distinction of species can hardly be accomplished without elaborate microscopic study, and also that, as far as possible, reliance has been placed only on such characteristics as can be distinguished with the naked eye or a simple magnifying glass, in order to make the key useful to the largest number. Recourse has also been taken for the same reason to the less reliable and more variable general external appearance, color, taste, smell, weight, etc.
The user of the key must, however, realize that external appearance, such, for example, as color, is not only very variable but also very difficult to describe, individual observers differing especially in seeing and describing shades of color. The same is true of statements of size, when relative, and not accurately measured, while weight and hardness can perhaps be more readily approximated. Whether any feature is distinctly or only indistinctly seen will also depend somewhat on individual eyesight, opinion, or practice. In some cases the resemblance of different species is so close that only one other expedient will make distinction possible, namely, a knowledge of the region from which the wood has come. We know, for instance, that no longleaf pine grows in Arkansas and that no white pine can come from Alabama, and we can separate the white cedar, giant arbor vitæ of the West and the arbor vitæ of the Northeast, only by the difference of the locality from which the specimen comes. With all these limitations properly appreciated, the key will be found helpful toward greater familiarity with the woods which are more commonly met with.