322 
TIMBEE 
the way the light is thrown upon it, showing light if seen 
from one direction, and dark if viewed from another, as 
can be easily observed by holding a piece of figured 
mahogany under artificial light and looking at it from both 
ends. The characteristic markings on mahogany are 
" mottle," which is also often found in sycamore, and is 
conspicuous on the backs of fiddles and violins, and is not 
in itself valuable ; it runs the transverse way of the fibres and 
Tig. o-I.— Effects produced by grain of oak in panelling. 
is probably the effect of wind upon the tree. " Koe," which 
is said to be caused by the contortion of the woody fibres, 
and takes a wavy line parallel to them, is also found in the 
hollow sides of bent stems and in the root structure, and 
when combined with "mottle" is very valuable. "Dapple" 
is an exaggerated form of mottle. " Thunder shake " or 
" tornado shake " is a rupture of the fibres across the 
grain, which in mahogany does not always break them ; 
the tree swaying in the wind only strains its fibres, and 
thus produces mottle in the wood. 
