410 THE MAHOGANY TREE. 



washing away of the superjacent soil, measured 110 feet in length. 

 Adanson estimated the age of some of these Anakim of trees at 1500 

 years. They were just shooting above, the ground, if this reckoning 

 be true, at the time that Constantine, the first Christian emperor, 

 removed the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople. 



There are other gigantic trees in the forests of Senegambia, as, for 

 instance, the Khaya Senegalensis, which rears its crest to a height of 

 50 or 60 yards, whose hard reddish-coloured timber belongs to the 

 species known in commerce under the name of Mahogany. Another 

 kind of mahogany, but less valuable, called Senegal Mahogany, is 

 furnished by the Swietenia Senegalensis (family of Meliacece, tribe of 

 Cedrelacece), named after Baron von Swieten, a Dutch botanist. It 

 forms a stately tree, some 60 or 80 feet high. Swietenia Mahogani, 

 a native of the warmer regions of America and the West Indies, 

 yields the mahogany of commerce. The first discovery of the exist- 

 ence of this kind of wood is ascribed to the carpenter on board Sir 

 Walter Raleigh's vessel, when lying off Trinidad in 1595. It is not 

 considered to reach perfection under the venerable age of two hundred 

 years. The seeds prepared with oil are used by the modern Mexicans, 

 as they were by the ancient Aztecs, for cosmetic purposes ; and the 

 bark is considered a febrifuge. 



Among the most curious trees of the Senegal, whose Flora has 

 quite a character of its own, travellers have singled out the Butter 

 Tree (Bassia butyracea, family of the Sapotacece), whose fruits contain 

 an edible fatty substance, used by the natives as a substitute for 

 butter ; and the Henna (Lawsonia inermis), which also flourishes on 

 the eastern coast and in Upper Egypt. The henna is a shrub from 

 six to seven feet high. Its flowers exhale a goat-like odour, which 

 seems much affected by the Orientals and the natives of Africa. Its 

 roots, of a deep red hue, are distinguished by a bitter taste and 

 astringent properties. Finally, its leaves supply an orange-red 

 colouring matter, with which the Arabs and negroes tint their hair, 

 beard, and nails. 



Let us not pass over without the tribute of our respectful notice 



