Sandalwood

Sandalwood, the fragrant heart-wood of trees belonging to the genera Santalum and Fusanus of the order Santalaceae among the Incompletae (q.v.). S. album of India, whence £70,000 worth is exported annually, is the source of the chief supply. S. Freycinetianum and S. pyrularium in Hawaii, Fusanus spicatus in West Australia and other species are apparently inferior. 100 lb. of good sandalwood should yield from 25 to 30 oz. of a pale straw-coloured essential oil; but this, owing to its costliness, is largely adulterated. Indian sandalwood is chiefly produced in Mysore, and is worth from £12 to £40 per ton in China. It is extensively used for carving and inlaying, and, wherever Buddhism prevails, for burning in funeral and other religious rites. The oil is used as a perfume, and of late years as a substitute for copaiba (q.v.) in treating diseases of the mucous membrane. Red Sandalwood, or Red Sanders Wood, used in dyeing and calico-printing, is the red heart-wood of the leguminous Pterocarpus santalinus, and of the "padouk" (P. indicus) of the East Indies; and barwood or camwood, the santal rouge d'Afrique of the French, is that of Baphia nitida (P. angolensis) from the Guinea coast. The name is a corruption of Santal wood.