BOXWOOD, the wood obtained from the Euphorbiaccons genus Buxus, the principal species being the well-known tree or shrub, B. sempervirens, the common box, in general use for borders of garden walks, ornamental parterres, &c. The other source of the ordinary boxwood of commerce is 13. balearica, which yields the variety known as Turkey boxwood. The common box is grown throughout Great Britain, in the southern part of the European continent generally, and it appears to extend through Persia into India, where it is found growing on the slopes of the Western Himalayas. Only a very small proportion of the wood suitable for industrial uses is now obtained in Great Britain. The box is a very slow growing plant, adding not more than 11 or 2 inches to its diameter in twenty years, and on an average attaining only a height of 16 feet, with a mean diameter of 10i inches. The leaves of this species are small, oval, leathery in texture, and of a deep glossy green colour. B. balearica is a tree of considerable size, attaining to a height of 80 feet, with leaves three times larger than those of the common box. It is a native of the islands of the Mediterranean, and grows in Turkey, Asia Minor, and around the shores of the Black Sea, and is supposed to be the chief source of the boxwood which conies into European commerce by way of Constantinople. The wood of both species possesses a delicate yellow colour ; it is very dense in structure and has a fine uniform grain, which gives it unique value for the purposes of the wood-engraver. In addition to the ever-increasing demand for the wood by engravers, a very large amount is used in the manufacture of measuring rules, various mathematical instruments, flutes and other musical instruments, as well as for turning into many minor articles, and for inlaying, and it is a favourite wood for small carvings, The use of boxwood for turnery and musical instruments is mentioned by Pliny, Virgil, and Ovid. The quantity of the wood which passes out from Constantinople yearly is estimated at from 5000 to 7000 tons, with about 1500 tons more of inferior and small pieces. While the consumption is continually increasing the present sources of supply are rapidly becoming exhausted, the forests near the sea are denuded of their best trees, and access to the wood growing in the interior of the countries around the Black Sea is difficult owing to the want of means of internal communication. The consequent increase of the cost of boxwood has led to frequent attempts to discover other woods which might take its place for the purposes of the wood engraver ; but none of the numerous substitutes proposed have hitherto been found to possess the necessary combination of properties.