FANCY WOODS. 175 



when maimfactiircd into tables. Mechanical skill 

 converts the connnonest materials into articles of 

 hii;h i)rice ; and this is one of the best directions 

 which can be £>iven to the hixury of an ag'e. 



Mahogany is of universal use for furniture, from 

 the common tables of a villap^e inn to the splendid 

 cabinets of a reg^al palace. But the i^eneral adop- 

 tion of this Avood renders a nice selection necessary 

 for those articles which are costly and fashionable. 

 The extensive manufacture of piano-fortes has much, 

 increased the demand for mahoi^-any. This musical 

 instrument, as made in England, is superior to that 

 of any other part of Europe ; and EngHsh piano- 

 fortes are larg-ely exported. The beauty of the case 

 forms a point of great importance to the manufac- 

 turer. This circumstance adds nothing, of course, 

 to the intrinsic value of the instrument; but it is of 

 consequence to the maker, in g'iving an adventitious 

 quality to the article in which he deals. Spanish 

 mahogany is decidedly the most beautiful ; but occa- 

 sionally, yet not veiy often, the Honduras wood is of 

 singular brilliancy ; and it is then eagerly sought for, 

 to be employed in the most expensive cabinet-work. 

 A short time ago, Messrs. Broadwood, who have 

 long been distinguished as makers of piano-fortes, 

 gave the enormous sum of three thousand pounds 

 for three logs of mahogany. These logs, the pro- 

 duce of one tree, were each about fifteen feet long 

 and thirty-eight inches wide. They were cut into 

 veneers of eight to an inch. The wood, of which 

 Ave have seen a specimen, was peculiai'ly beautiful, 

 capable of receiving the highest polish ; and, when 

 polished, reflecting the light in the most varied man- 

 ner, like the surface of a crystal ; and, from the 

 wavy form of the fibres, offering a different figure 

 in whatever direction it was viewed. A new spe- 

 cies of mahogany has been lately introduced in 



