20 



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long been known as the timber of a tree called botanically 

 Swietenia Mahagoni Jaeq., usually said to be a native of the 

 West Indies and the adjacent coasts of Central America, but 

 the term has also been extended to other red-brown timbers 

 possessing somewhat similar properties, some of them belonging 

 to other genera of Meliaceae and some to quite different 

 families. The term, however, was originally applied to the 

 West Indian tree, the timber of which has been known for up- 

 wards of 300 years, and under the name of Spanish Mahogany, 

 early became famous for the construction of articles of furniture. 

 At a somewhat later date British Honduras became famous as 

 a source of Mahogany, which until 1886 was generally regarded 

 as the timber of Swietenia Mahagoni. In that year, however, 

 Sir George King described and figured a new species under the 

 name of Swietenia macrophylla, this having been grown in the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, from seeds collected in 

 Honduras. Since then it has been generally recognised thai 

 Honduras Mahogany is specifically different from the West 

 Indian tree. There is also a third species, S. humilis, Zucc, a 

 native of Western Mexico, which was thought to be in culti- 

 vation at Calcutta. Specimens of the Calcutta tree, however, 

 including fruits, have recently been received at Kew, and prove 

 to be a form of S. Mahagoni, Jacq. Further species formerly 

 referred to Swietenia have now been transferred to other genera. 

 The present paper, however, is limited to the species of Swietenia 

 proper, to which what may be termed true Mahoganies belong. 



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1. Swietenia Mahagoni, Jacq. (Enum. PL Carib. p. 20), 



dates from 1T60, being based on the Arbor foliis pinnatis nullo 

 impari Alam claudente, &c, Catesby (Nat. Hist. Carolina, 

 Florida and the Bahama Islands, ii. p. 81, t. 81), published 

 six years earlier. It is called the Mahogany tree, and is said to 

 grow in the Bahamas and other countries. Catesby remarked : 

 * The Excellency of this Wood for all Domestkk Uses is now 

 sufficiently known in England: And at the Bahama Islands, 

 and other Countries, where it grows naturally, it is in no lea 

 Esteem for Shipbuilding, having Properties . . . .viz., 

 Durableness, resisting Gunshots, and burying the Shot without 

 Splintering." The coloured figure, which is good, shows a 

 branch with flower and fruit, and also a Mistletoe which is said 

 to grow on Mahogany and other trees in the Bahamas. 



It is said that the earliest specimens of Mahogany were 

 brought home by Sir Walter Raleigh on his return from Trinidad 

 in 1595 (Diet. Nat. Biogr. xlvii. p. 194). The name, however, 

 does not seem to have been used previous to 1671, when John 

 Ogilby (America, p. 338), remarks " Here [in Jamaica] are . . . 

 the most curious and rich sort of Woods, as Cedar, Mohogeney," 



(i&C.). 



P. Browne, in 1789 (Hist. Jam. p. 158), calling it Cedrela 2, 

 states^ that " Mahagany crew formerly very common in 

 Jamaica, and while it could be had in the low lands, and brought 

 to market at an easy rate, furnished a very considerable branch 

 of the exports of that Island. " This is followed by an excellent 



