170 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



any other kind, were better, in point both of beauty 

 and of standing without warping, than solid timber ; 

 but the cutting of the veneers by the hand was very 

 laborious, and wasted the timber, so that, though 

 the plan was a good one, it was expensive. 



When the harder and more unmanageable species 

 of fancy woods came to be used, the difficulty and 

 expense were further increased; and though more 

 beauty and variety were imparted to cabinet furniture, 

 they were imparted at a corresponding increase of ex- 

 pense. Nor was it till the invention of machinery for 

 the cutting of wood into veneers,by Mr. Brunel,that we 

 had the full advantage of the beautiful art of veneering. 



The machinery used for this purpose consists of cir- 

 cular saws, driven by mechanical power, and they have 

 so diminished the price of cutting veneers, that the sav- 

 ing is immense. Thus, those classes of the people who, 

 not long ago, had even the favourite articles of their 

 furniture in deal, or in the coarser woods, which are 

 the growth of this country, now have them in maho- 



fany, or in some of the less common foreign woods, 

 ndependently of their superior beauty, (and that 

 is a matter of more consequence than many would be 

 disposed to allow,) these foreign woods have the ad- 

 vantage of durability, both in their structure and their 

 colours. There are few of the indigenous woods of 

 Britain into which the worm does not eat; and there 

 are none of them in which the colours have not a 

 tendency to come to the same shade, when long 

 used, unless they are protected by varnish; while, on 

 the other hand, the fancy woods from the tropical 

 countries, are generally, if not universally, proof 

 agninst the worm in England, and they are not apt to 

 lose their colours. Thus the introduction of machi- 

 nery, for the purpose of cutting veneers, has been a 

 material saving both in the cost and the wear of 

 furniture, while it has enabled the workman to extend 



