WOOD-OIL, the name commonly given by Europeans in India to a balsamic fluid, not really an oil, obtained from the trunks of trees chiefly of the order dipteracces The wood oils of Indian commerce are generally named from the countries or places frrm which they are brought, and it is not yet known what trees yield particular kinds, although it is certain that most of them are produced by species of dipterocarpus. The name yurgina balsam, or goorjun balsam, is frequently given to one of the most common kinds, the produce of the goorjun tree, dipterocarpus turbinatus, and other species of dipterocarpus. Wood-oil is produced chiefly 'on the Burmese coast, and in the more southern and eastern regions. It is obtained by tapping the tree, and applying heat to the incision; or by felling the tree, cutting a hole in the trunk, and kindling a fire in it, a groove being made for the exuded fluid to flow iuto pots placed to receive it. The
trees which produce it being often very large, a single tree sometimes produces seven tons of oil. Wood-oil is used in medicine as a substitute for copaiva (q.v.), and in the arts as a varnish, often in combination with colored pigments, and even as a substitute for tar in paying the seams of shipping. It is very effectual in preserving timber from the attacks of white ants. It is sometimes used in making lithographic inks. Wood-oil has a flue aromatic odor, resembling that of cedar. When allowed to remain at rest for some time, it separates into two lavers, the upper of a clear chestnut-colored liquid balsam, and the lower a kind of resin in flakes. It is, of course, this resinous part only which remains when it is used as a varnish, and the varnish has dried.