150 THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 



It follows that judgment should be rendered for the plaintifl to the effect 

 that the storage contract was terminated and ceased to exist between the 

 parties on August i6, 191 2 ; that the plaintiff is released and discharged 

 from all further responsibility to the defendant as warehouseman ; that the 

 defendant should be enjoined from further negotiations of the warehouse 

 receipts, and that the defendant should pay to the plaintiff the charges 

 incurred up to the time of the removal of the logs and its expenses incurred 

 in the removal, and that the counterclaim of the defendant be dismissed. 



Mahogany, Spanish. Swietenia Mahogani, Linn. Weight, 48 lbs. 

 San Domingo, etc. 



The name " Spanish " mahogany has been applied to the wood which 

 from the earliest date of the importation of mahogany came from Spanish 

 possessions in the West Indies, and not, as some have erroneously 

 imagined, from Spain. It is interesting to note that the origin of what 

 has subsequently developed into an active trade was the bringing to 

 England of a few planks and butts of mahogany as ballast by the captains 

 of Enghsh vessels trading in the West Indies. According to report it was 

 first heard of in 1597, but only began to arrive in England in marketable 

 quantities towards the end of the seventeenth century. A cabinet-maker 

 named WoUaston first introduced it in an important manner, and nearly, if 

 not quite all the very beautiful and celebrated pieces of Chippendale made 

 about 1750 were of this wood. Its unusually attractive qualities gave 

 it the premier position, which it still retains, amongst decorative cabinet 

 woods, and a considerable development in the trade ensued. The imports, 

 however, were of a desultory character, and when the trees which were 

 growing within easy access of the seaports were cleared, the trade in 

 large pieces nearly ceased, as the country is very rugged and mountainous, 

 and no means of transport except that of oxen and mules were available. 

 Towards the end of the eighteenth century a very considerable demand 

 arose for that form of mahogany known as curls or crotches. These 

 pieces are obtained from that portion of the tree which contains a fork, 

 either of the main trunk or secondary branches. (See Mahogany, Cuba.) 

 To meet this demand great numbers of trees were cut down and all the 

 forks carefully hewn out, placed on the backs of oxen, and carried down 

 to the seaport. These pieces were in oblong hewn slabs, varying in size 

 from about 9 inches by 5 inches to 36 inches by 24 inches, or as large as 

 the animal could carry. 



Meanwhile the main trunks, which were too heavy to be transported, 

 were left lying on the ground, where many remained for half a century 

 and more. During all this time an intermittent trade was being carried 

 on, mostly, however, in smaller squares generally not exceeding about 

 16 inches by 9 or 10 inches in short lengths. The trade received a very 

 considerable impetus as the result of the activity both in exploiting in 

 Liverpool and elsewhere, and the writing abroad privately and publicly 



