THE WOODS OF COMMERCE. 
Park. This descriptive catalogue of the woods commonly employed in this country for the mechanical 
and ornamental arts, originally appeared as a portion of a much more extensive work of five volumes, 
entitled Turning and Mechanical Manipulation , which the author was led to undertake from the 
circumstance of there being no general treatise in the English language for the guidance of the amateur 
in these pursuits. The “Catalogue” is, however, very complete in itself; embracing not only a 
valuable and instructive account of the various woods used for useful and ornamental purposes, as well 
as other vegetable substances wrought by the turner, but also a valuable practical treatise on turning, 
containing much information on the different qualities of woods and the kinds chosen for certain 
purposes, their ornamental characters, and the art of combination, added to which we have a brief and 
important memoir on the preservation of woods, We have shortly indicated the nature of Mr. Holtz- 
apffel’s work, with the view of making it known among those to whom it may be of service; and 
we know that there are many devoting attention to this subject at the present time. It only remains 
for us to show by an extract the manner in which the subject is treated, and we take the notice of 
the Mahogany as one containing many valuable and interesting observations from Dr. Doyle’s pen :— 
“ The Swietenia Mahagoni is a native of the West Indies and the country round the Bay of Honduras. It is 
said to be of rapid growth, and so large that its trunk often exceeds forty feet in length and six feet in diameter. 
This wood was first brought to London in the year 1724 ; its Spanish name is Caoba. Spanish Mahogany is 
imported from Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, St. Domingo, and some other of the West Indian Islands, and the 
Spanish Main, in logs from about twenty to twenty-six inches square and ten feet long. It is close-grained, 
hard, sometimes strongly figured, and generally of a darker colour than Honduras; but its pores frequently 
a ppear as if chalk had been rubbed into them. Honduras Mahogany is imported in logs of a larger size than the 
above, that is, from two to four feet square, and twelve to eighteen feet in length; sometimes planks have been 
obtained six or seven feet wide. Honduras Mahogany is generally lighter than the Spanish, and also more open 
and irregular in the grain : many of the pieces are of a fine golden colour 'with showy veins and figures. The 
worst kinds are those the most filled with grey specks, from which the Spanish Mahogany (except the Cuba) is 
comparatively free. Both Spanish and Honduras Mahogany are supposed to be produced by the same tree, 
Swietenia Mahagoni of botanists; some suppose that the Honduras is the wood of a different species, but Long, in 
his ‘ History of Jamaica,’ says, ‘ What grows on rocky grounds is of small diameter but of closer grain, heavier 
weight, and more beautifully grained; what is produced in low. rich, and moist land is larger in dimensions, 
more light and porous, and of a pale complexion. This constitutes the difference between the Jamaica wood and 
that which is collected from the coast of Cuba and the Spanish Main; the former is mostly found on rocky 
eminences, the latter is cut in swampy soils near the sea coast.” African Mahogany ( Ehaya senegalensis,) from 
Gambia, is a more recent importation; it twists much more than either of the above, and is decidedly inferior to 
them in all respects except hardness. It is a good wood for mangles, curriers’ tables, and other uses where a hard 
and cheap wood of great size is required ; it admits of being turned equally as well as the others. Mahogany 
shrinks but little in drying, and twists and warps less than any other wood; on account of which it is used for 
founders’ patterns, and other works in which permanence of form is of primary importance. For the same 
reason, and for its comparative size, abundance, soundness, and beauty, it is the most useful of the furniture 
woods, and it holds the glue the best of all. Mahogany is also used for a variety of turned works, apart from 
upholstery and cabinet work. The Spanish Mahogany is, in general, by far the best, although some of the 
Honduras nearly approaches it, except in hardness and weight. The African is by no means so useful or valuable 
as either of the above, as it alters very much in drying. There are two other species of Swietenia, besides the 
Mahogany tree, which are natives of the East Indies : the one. a large tree, of which the wood is of a dull red 
colour, and remarkably hard and heavy; the other is only a middle-sized tree, the wood of which is close grained, 
heavy, and durable, of a deep yellow colour and much resembles Box-wood; but neither of these species is in 
common use in this country.’ ( Tredgold. ) The first of these trees was formerly referred to Swietenia, but is now 
Soymidd febrifuga , the second is probably Cliloroxylon Swietenia , which is the Satin-wood of India and Ceylon. 
A third species, much admired for its light colour, close grain, and being elegantly veined, is the Chickrassee of 
the natives, and Chicrassia tabularis of botanists: the wood is much employed in making furniture and cabinet 
work. The wood of the Toon tree, Cedrela Toona , is sometimes called Indian Mahogany.” 
The investigation of the climatic influences of tropical forests, and other questions relating to their 
commercial importance and the means of increasing their value, has for some years engaged the 
attention of a Committee of the British Association; and the extensive collections of woods from 
different parts, which were exhibited in the Crystal Palace at Hyde Park, were instrumental in calling 
general attention to the riches of the indigenous arboreous vegetation of foreign lands, about which too 
little is known. Botanists cannot even tell by what families of plants many of the finest woods known 
in the arts are produced.—L. 
