Raymond H. Beal

Resistance of Some Woods from Africa and Southeast Asia to Neotropical Wood-Destroyers

The United States Navy has considerable quantities of wood in marine and terrestrial service, and it has a vital economic interest in maximizing the service life of this wood (Fischer et al. , 1975). Consequently, the Navy continually seeks new protectants which will reduce the cost of replacement or repair of biodamaged wood and still be environ mentally acceptable. The Naval Research Laboratory has been actively engaged in such research for many years (Bultman, Little, and Leonard, 1955; Southwell and Bultman, 1972; Bultman and Jurd, 1979; Bultman and Parrish, 1982). This effort has included a search for bioresistant woods (also the object of this study) for direct use as construction materials in marine or terrestrial situations and a chemical investigation of such naturally bioresistant woods to isolate and identify the active constituents which confer the observed natural resistance (Bultman and Parrish, 1979; Southwell and Bultman, 1971; Bultman and Southwell, 1976; Bultman et al. , 1979 Bultman et al. , 1983). Such natural products could serve as starting materials for the development of improved protectants.