BRAZILWOOD. A dark•red or yellowish brown dye-wood, which forms a considerable article of export from Brazil, where some of the 'revs which yield it are very abundant. It is the product of different speeies of Ca•salpinia. The best kinds are those (-ailed Pernambuco wood. All Saints' wood, and Saint Martha wood.
Some confusion exists as to the exact botanical identity of the different varieties of Brazilwood. Much of the Brazilwood of commerce is ob tained from Orsalpinia 131-c:silk:Isis, a tree which is n native of the West Indies, commonly grow ing in dry places and among rocks, and seldom exceeding 30 feet in height. It has bipinnate leaves, with many smooth, obtuse, oblong leaf lets and no terminal leaflets, the flowers in pan-' nieles, with downy stalks. The heartwood alone is of any value. Pernambuco Wood is the product of Ca.salpinia cchinata. The sap wood is extremely thick. and the valuable heart wood hears a small proportion to the whole di ameter of the stem. The Sapan wood (q.v.) of the East Indies nearly approaches Brazil wood in quality. It is the product. of Orsalpinia
$appan, a small, thorny tree. The Braziletto wood, sometimes also called Brazil wood, which is brought from the Antilles. is much inferior. O•.catpina crista probably yields some of the inferior West Indian I3razilwood. Brazilwood is said not to take its name from Brazil, but to be mentioned under the name Braxilis in docu ments nmeh older than the discovery of Amer ica, the sappanwood of the East Indies being probably intended.
When freshly cut. the color of Brazilwood is yellow; hut when exposed to air, moisture, and light, it becomes red, and is generally sent into market ground down to the size of ordinary sawdust. When treated with water, alcohol, or ether, the weathered Brazilwood readily yields up its red coloring matter, called brazilin. Strong decoctions of Brazilwood are used by the dyer and calico-printer in the fabrication of reds, browns. etc. It is also used in the manufacture of red ink. Brazilwood as a dye stuff has been largely superseded by synthetic dyestuffs. See INK.