FANCY WOODS. 177 



works, and for borderings to those which are larger. 

 It is extremely hard. The tree which produces it is 

 small, as the sticks are seldom brought to this 

 country more than five inches wide and four feet 

 long. Its colour is of a chocolate ground, with 

 black veins; sometimes running into the finest lines, 

 and at others more spread over the ground, as in 

 rose-wood. The botanical name of the tree which pro- 

 duces this wood, is not known. It comes from Brazil. 

 And here we should remark the exceedingly im- 

 perfect state of our knowledge with regard to the 

 species of trees which produce the Fancy-woods, so 

 extensively used in cabinet-work in this country. It 

 might be supposed that there would be no more diffi 

 culty in determining the botanical names,and deciding 

 the species of those foreign woods which are used in 

 our finer sorts of furniture, and in many small 

 articles of taste, such as Tunbridge-ware, than in 

 pointing out that oak is used in ship-building, and 

 pine in the construction of houses; but the contrary 

 is the fact. The attention of botanists who have 

 described the productions of South America and 

 Australasia, from which these fine woods come, has 

 not been directed to this point; and the commercial 

 dealers in these woods have paid no regard to it. 

 It would be well, in this age when natural history 

 is so much cultivated, if naturalists, and dealers in 

 foreign timber, would combine their experience 

 upon this subject, and supply the deficiency. No 

 knowledge of the matter can be procured in books; 

 and we have consulted commercial men, and prac- 

 tical botanists, without obtaining any information 

 that could be depended upon, though each agreed in 

 lamenting that a subject of general interest should 

 have been left so entirely without investigation. Al- 

 though no important results to science might pro 

 ceed from such inquiries, it is certainly humiliating 



