FANCY WOODS. 173 



respectable part of the trade, it woulil cover nearly 

 an acre. Now, when it is considered that the niaho- 

 cjany, or other wood that forms the most beautiful 

 surface, is seldom that which is the best adapted for 

 solid work, it is easy to be conceived how much ad- 

 vantag^e must result from this invention. 



Veneering- in fancy woods has sometimes been 

 compared to gildino^ and plating, but the process does 

 not c;ain by the comparison ; as the covering of one 

 wood with another is a much nearer approach to 

 solidity than the covering of one metal with another. 

 While the cabinet article is kept in such a state 

 as that the glue is not dissolved, the covering of 

 beautiful wood does not wear out ; and thus with a 

 vast saving in the more costly material, there is the 

 same durability, as if nothing but that material had 

 been used for the whole. There is another advan- 

 tage in the use of fancy-woods on the surface ; the 

 body of the article upon which the fancy wood is 

 laid can be much better put together than if it had 

 formed the external part of the article. Where 

 that is the case, dovetails or mortices cannot be 

 wedged \vithout an external seam ; but in veneering, 

 the body of the article can be put together with every 

 degree of care and strength, and the veneer will 

 hide the whole. 



The slightest observation of the domestic life of 

 the middle and humbler classes will shew that, within 

 the last thirty years, there has been a manifest im- 

 provement in the appearance of the household furni- 

 ture of this country. A century ago, even in the 

 mansions of the rich, though there was occasional 

 luxury both in the materials and the forms of their 

 fiirniture, much of it wa% mean and ill-fashioned. 

 There were, indeed, splendid cabinets, to be exhi- 

 bited at seasons of festivity, filled with rare porcelain 

 and laden with costly plate ; but the table for ordi- 



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