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SANDALWOOD (from Fr. sandal, santal, ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 137 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SANDALWOOD (from Fr. See also:sandal, See also:santal, Gr. oitvraXov, atw&sXov, Pers. sandal, chandan, Skt. chandana, the sandal See also:tree; the See also:form " See also:sanders " is probably an See also:English corruption) , a fragrant See also:wood obtained from various trees of the natural See also:order Santalaceae, and principally from Santalum See also:album, a native of See also:India. The use of sandalwood See also:dates as far back at least as the 5th See also:century B.c. It is still extensively used in India and See also:China, wherever See also:Buddhism prevails, being employed in funeral See also:rites and religious ceremonies. Until the See also:middle of the 18th century India was the only source of sandalwood. The See also:discovery of a sandalwood in the islands of the Pacific led to difficulties with the natives, often ending in bloodshed, the celebrated missionary See also:John See also:Williams (1796-1839), amongst others, having fallen a victim to an indiscriminate See also:retaliation by the natives on See also:white men visiting the islands. The loss of See also:life in this See also:trade was at one See also:time even greater than in that of whaling, with which it ranked as one of the most adventurous of callings. In India sandalwood is largely used in the manufacture of boxes, fans and other ornamental articles of inlaid See also:work, and to a limited extent in See also:medicine as a domestic remedy for all kinds of pains and aches. The oil, obtained by distilling the wood in chips, is largely used as a perfume, few native See also:Indian attars or essential See also:oils being See also:free from admixture with it. In the form of See also:powder or See also:paste the wood is employed in the See also:pigments used by the Brahmans for their distinguishing See also:caste-marks. Red sandalwood, known also as red sanders wood, is the product of a small leguminous tree, Pterocarpus santalinus, native of S. India, See also:Ceylon and the Philippine Islands. A fresh See also:surface of the wood has a See also:rich deep red See also:colour, which on exposure,however, assumes a dark brownish tint.

In See also:

medieval times red sandalwood possessed a high reputation in medicine, and it was valued as a colouring ingredient in many dishes. It is pharmacologically quite inert. Now it is little used as a colouring See also:agent in See also:pharmacy, its See also:principal application being in See also:wool-See also:dyeing. Several other See also:species of Pterocarpus, notably P. indicus, contain the same dyeing principle and can be used as substitutes for red sandalwood. The barwood and camwood of the See also:Guinea See also:Coast of See also:Africa, from Baphia nitida or an allied species, called santal See also:rouge d'Afrique by the See also:French, are also in all respects closely allied to the red sandalwood of See also:Oriental countries. As a substitute for See also:copaiba (q.v.), sandalwood oil, distilled from the wood of Santalum album, is more expensive and pleasanter to take, but it is less efficient, as it does not contain any analogue to the valuable See also:resin in copaiba.

End of Article: SANDALWOOD (from Fr. sandal, santal, Gr. oitvraXov, atw&sXov, Pers. sandal, chandan, Skt. chandana, the sandal tree; the form " sanders " is probably an English corruption)

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