XXV.] 



MAHOGANY. 



177 



TABLE LXXXVIII. 

 Vertical or Crushing Experiments on cubes of 



One piece, 9 



Nos. 29 and 30. 

 Crushed with 

 the weight of 



ic weight of 



y i A y '5 x I 5" 37 tons = 3 '493 tons per square inch. 



9" -5 x 9 "-5 x 18", 336-8,, =3-833 



E-= 492550. s = 2105. 



TPIE MEXICAN MAHOGANY TREE (Swietenia) 



is the produce of Mexico, in Central America, where 

 it is very abundant. It is of straight growth and outvies 

 every other description of mahogany in its noble dimen- 

 sions. It yields the timber of commerce in squares of 

 15 to 36 inches, by 18 to 30 feet in length. These are,, 

 however, only the ordinary lengths brought to market, 

 the stems being generally cut into short pieces for the 

 convenience of getting them down the hatchways of the 

 ships, which have frequently to load in a roadstead, 

 where it would be unsafe to open a raft-port. 



Some of the trees from the district of Minatitlan 

 must be very large, since it is no unusual thing to meet 

 with well-squared pieces of this timber, measuring 40 to 



