LANCEWOOD  , a straight-grained, tough,

light elastic wood obtained from the West Indies and Guiana . It is brought into commerce in the form of taper poles of about 20 ft. in length and from 6 to 8 in. in diameter at the thickest end . Lancewood is used by carriage-builders for shafts; but since the practice of employing curved shafts has come largely into use it is not in so great demand as formerly . The smaller wood is used for whip-handles, for the tops of fishing-rods, and for various minor purposes where even-grained elastic wood is a desideratum . The wood is obtained from two members of the natural order Anonaceae . The black lancewood or carisiri of Guiana (Guatteria virgata) grows to a height of 50 ft., is of remarkably slender form, and seldom yields wood more than 8 in. diameter . The yellow lancewood tree (Duguetia quitarensis, yari-yari, of Guiana) is of similar dimensions, found in tolerable abundance throughout Guiana, and used by the Indians for arrow-points, as well as for spars, beams, &c . LAN-CHOW-FU, the chief town of the Chinese province of Kan-suh, and one of the most important cities of the interior part of the empire, on the right bank of the Hwang-ho . The population is estimated at 175,000 . The houses, with very few exceptions, are built of wood, but the streets are paved with blocks of granite and marble . Silks, wood-carvings, silvez and jade ornaments, tin and copper wares, fruits and tobacco are the chief articles of the local trade . Tobacco is very extensively cultivated in the vicinity .