EBONY, the wood of trees of the genus Diospyros (family Ebenaceae), widely distributed in the tropical parts of the world. The best kinds are very heavy, deep black, and consist of heart wood only. On account of its colour, durability, hardness and susceptibility of polish, ebony is much used for cabinet work and inlaying, pianoforte-keys, knife-handles and turned articles. The best Indian and Ceylon ebony is furnished by D. Ebenum, which grows in abundance throughout the flat country west of Trincoma lee in Ceylon. The tree is distinguished by the inferior width of its trunk, and its jet-black, charred-looking bark, beneath which the wood is perfectly white until the heart is reached. The wood is stated to excel all other varieties in the fineness and in tensity of its dark colour. Although the centre of the tree alone is employed, reduced logs 1 to 3ft. in diameter can readily be procured. Much of the East Indian ebony is yielded by D. Melanoxylon (Coromandel ebony), a large tree attaining a height of 6o to 8oft., and 8 to 'oft. in circumference, with irregular rigid branches, and oblong or oblong-lanceolate leaves. The wood of D. tosnentosa, a native of north Bengal, is black, hard and of great weight. D. montana, another Indian species, produces a yellowish-grey soft but durable wood. D. quaesita is the tree from which is obtained the wood known in Ceylon as Calamander. Its closeness of grain, great hardness and fine hazel-brown colour, mottled and striped with black, render it valuable for veneering and furniture making. D. Dendo, a native of Angola, is a valu able timber tree, 25 to 35ft. high, with a trunk 1 to 2ft. in diameter. The heart-wood is very black and hard and is known as black ebony, also as billet-wood, Gabun, Lagos, Calabar or Niger ebony. What is termed Jamaica or American ebony, and the green ebony of commerce, is produced by Brya Ebenus, a leguminous tree or shrub, having a trunk rarely more than din. in diameter, flexible spiny branches, and orange-yellow, sweet scented flowers. The heart-wood is rich dark brown, heavier than water, exceedingly hard and capable of receiving a high polish.
Ebony was among the articles of merchandise brought to Tyre (Ezekiel xxvii. 15), and Herodotus states (iii. 97) that the Ethi opians every three years sent a tribute of zoo logs of it to Persia. By the ancients it was esteemed of equal value for durability with the cypress and cedar (see Pliny, Nat. Hist. xii. 9, xvi. 79). According to Solinus (Polyliistor, Paris, 1621), it was employed by the kings of India for sceptres and images, also, on account of its supposed antagonism to poison, for drinking-cups. The hardness and black colour of the wood appear to have given rise to the tradition, alluded to by Southey (Thalaba, i. 22), that the tree produced neither leaves nor fruit, and was never seen ex posed to the sun.