Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/191

CHAP. XXV.] great beauty; indeed, if worked up for furniture, or used for any ornamental purposes whatever, we cannot fail to admire it. The figured logs, therefore, possess a considerably enhanced value over those of a plainer description, and high, even fabulous prices are often realised for them.

Cuba or Spanish Mahogany is durable, and is employed for a variety of purposes. It has been very advantageously used in the building of ships of war in place of Oak for beams, planking, stanchions, &c.; its strength and rigidity rendering it admirably fitted for these, while, being of rnoderate specific gravity, it was safe to use it either above, at, or below the line of flotation; but in civil architecture it is not much used, on account of the high price it obtains over other woods.

— Nos. 1 and 4 broke with moderate length of fracture, and splintery; 3, 5, and 6—each broke very short.