RESEARCHES ON WOODS IMPREGNATED WITH" BAKELITE " - Woods impregnated with "bakelite" possess the followingproperties :They are artificially made old, a little or not at all hygroscopic,and show phenomena of minimum shrinking and swelling;lastly, they possess good insulating qualities.The author calls to mind how the impregnation of wood bybakelite is realised and he shows the results of a very greatnumber of mecanical experiments carried out with the purposeof comparing, all other conditions being equal, sample of naturalwood and of wood impregnated with the synthetic resins. Theseresults are the following :i) Resistance to crushing : the breakage loads are multipliedby a coefficient which varies from 1,5 to 3 without the densityperceptibly increasing.2) Resistance to extension : no change.3) Resistance to flexion is increased by about 1,5.4) Power of resisting shocks : no improvement.5) Hardness : it is from 3,4 to 6 times greater than the hardnessof natural wood.The total of these results explains the multitude of applicationsof bakelised wood.Microscopic study has shown that there is no chemical combinationbut simply partial filling of the cellular cavities.