Aloes Wood

Aloes Wood (sometimes called also Eagle Wood, Calambac, Paradise Wood, or Agallochum) is the heart-wood of Aquilaria ovata and A. Agallochum, trees of the order Aquilariaceæ, natives of the tropical parts of Asia, and supposed to be the aloes or lign-aloes of the Bible. They are large spreading trees. Aloes wood contains a dark-coloured, fragrant, resinous substance, and is much prized in the East as a medicine, and for the pleasant odour which it diffuses in burning. The resinous substance is found only in the inner part of the trunk and branches; the younger wood is white, and almost scentless; hence the pure aloes wood is sometimes obtained by burying the stems, when the sap-wood decays away, leaving the resinous core intact. A similar substance, still more esteemed, is obtained in the south-eastern parts of Asia and the adjacent islands, from the central part of the trunk of Aloe xylon Agallochum, of the natural order Leguminosæ, sub-order Cæsalpineæ. This tree is found in Cochin-China and the Moluccas, where a character of sacredness is attached to it. Its fragrant wood is not only much prized in the East as a perfume, but many medicinal virtues are ascribed to it. The ancients ascribed to it similar virtues, and so valued it for these and its fragrance, that Herodotus says it once sold for more than its weight in gold. As it admits of a high polish, and exhibits a beautiful graining, precious gems were set in it; and it was cut into fantastic forms and worn in head-dresses, &c. It was early used to perfume apartments, and Napoleon I. used it as a perfume in his palaces. The fragrance continues undiminished for years. Lign Aloes is a corruption of Lignum Aloes (aloes wood).