BOXWOOD, the wood obtained from the genus Buxus, the principal species being the well-known tree or shrub, B. serper virens, the common box, in general use for borders of garden walks, ornamental parterres, etc. The other source of the or dinary boxwood of commerce is B. balearica, which yields the variety known as Turkey boxwood. The common box is grown throughout Great Britain (perhaps native in the chalk-hills of the south of England), in the southern part of the European continent generally, and extends through Persia into India, where it is found growing on the slopes of the western Himalayas. Only a very small proportion of the wood suitable for industrial uses is now obtained in Great Britain. The box is a very slow-growing plant, adding not more than 1I or 2in. to its diameter in 20 years, and on an average attaining only a height of 16f t. with a mean diameter of jot inches. The leaves of this species are small, oval, leathery in texture, and of a deep glossy green colour. B. balearica is a tree of considerable size, attaining to a height of 8of t., with leaves three times as large as those of the common box. It is a native of the islands of the Mediterranean, and grows in Turkey, Asia Minor, and around the shores of the Black Sea. The wood of both species possesses a delicate yellow colour; it is very dense in structure and has a fine uniform grain, which has given it unique value for the purposes of the wood-engraver. A large amount is used in the manufacture of measuring rules, various mathematical instruments, flutes and other musical in struments, for turning, for inlaying, and for small carvings. The use of boxwood for turnery and musical instruments is mentioned by Pliny, Virgil and Ovid.