THEY TURN THE TABLES 



185 



They "Turn the Tables." 

 There was a time in Rome's luxuri- 

 ous days when men went mad over 

 tables made of curly maple. Not of 

 the sycamore maple, the standard 

 hardwood of Europe to-day, but of the 

 lesser maple, Acer campestris, the 

 maple of the field. It outranked even 

 the precious Arrah, or citron-wood, in 

 popularity among the Imperial "smart 

 set." The best trees grew on the 

 nether slopes of the Alps ; and the 

 curly wood came from trees disfigured 

 with knobs and swellings. There were 

 two kinds : one, dark, which came in 

 logs large enough to saw into tables ; 

 the other, white, far more beautiful, 

 but always in such small-sized pieces 

 that only curious and dainty articles 

 could be made of it. Often it was 

 worked down so thin that when pol- 

 ished it was transparent, and showed 

 its beautiful patterns as if they were 

 in a pane of glass. 



"The Pavonaceous maple" was that 

 rare grain whose elegant curls and un- 

 dulations imitated the eyes of a pea- 

 cock's tail. Workers in maple wood 

 ranked with jewelers and goldsmiths. 

 They made tables with the most beau- 

 tiful colors and patterns revealed by 

 their polished tops. For such a table 



Cicero paid ten thousand sesterces. It 

 showed curious "spots and macula- 

 tions" in the natural grain which imi- 

 tated the colors and shapes of tigers 

 and panthers ! One of the Ptolemies 

 had a circular table three inches thick 

 and four feet and a half in diameter 

 for which he gave its weight in gold ! 

 Fifteen hundred thousands sesterces — 

 $60,000 — paid by this emperor for a 

 single table, probably represents the 

 limit to which this extravagance was 

 carried. 



A common phrase, which we use 

 without understanding its meaning, 

 originated at this time. The women 

 matched their husbands in lavish ex- 

 penditures. "When the men at any 

 time reproached their wives for their 

 wanton extravagance in pearl and 

 other rich trifles, they were wont to 

 retort, and turn the tables upon their 

 husbands." Evelyn, from whom I 

 quote, makes this statement on the au- 

 thority of Pliny. — Julia Ellen Rogers, 

 in "The Tree Book." 



I certainly enjoy every minute I am 

 reading the magazine. Its work is 

 vital and may it win its deserved suc- 

 cess. — Warren E. Pollard, Ames, Iowa. 



]iIKI>'S-EYE MAPLE. 

 From a large specimen donated to ArcAdiA by the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Veneer Company. 



