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MAHOGANY

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 399 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MAHOGANY , a dark-coloured See also:

wood largely used for See also:household See also:furniture, the product of a large See also:tree indigenous to Central See also:America and the See also:West Indies. It was originally received from See also:Jamaica; 521,300 ft. were exported from that See also:island in 1753. It is known botanically as Swietenia Mahogani, and is a member of the See also:order Meliaceae. It bears See also:compound leaves, resembling those of the ash, and clusters of small See also:flowers, with five sepals and petals and ten stamens which are See also:united into a See also:tube. The See also:fruit is a See also:pear-shaped woody See also:capsule, and contains many winged seeds. The dark-coloured bark has been considered a febrifuge, and the seeds were used by the See also:ancient See also:Aztecs with oil for a cosmetic, but the most valuable product is the See also:timber, first noticed by the See also:carpenter on See also:board See also:Sir See also:Walter See also:Raleigh's See also:ship in 1595 for its See also:great beauty, hardness and durability. Dr See also:Gibbons brought it into See also:notice as well adapted for furniture in the See also:early See also:part of the 18th See also:century, and its use as a See also:cabinet wood was first practically established by a cabinet-maker named See also:Wollaston, who was employed by Gibbons to See also:work up some mahogany brought to See also:England by his See also:brother. It was introduced into See also:India in 1795, and is now cultivated in See also:Bengal and as far See also:north as Saharunpur. ' The timber of See also:species of Cedrela and Melia, other members of the order Meliaceae, are used as Mahogany, and the product of the West See also:African Khaya senegalensis is known as African mahogany. There is some confusion between the product of these various trees. See also:Herbert See also:Stone (The Timbers of See also:Commerce, 1904) says: " The various species of mahogany and See also:cedar are so confusing that it is difficult to make precise statements as to their structure or origin. I know of no convincing See also:proof that any of the See also:American kinds met with on the See also:English See also:market are the wood of Swietenia Mahogani, nor that those shipped from See also:Africa are the wood of Khaya senegalensis.

These two genera are very nearly allied to Cedrela and Melia, and it is difficult to See also:

separate any of the four from the See also:rest by the characters of the wood. After giving the most careful See also:attention to every detail, I lean to the view that most if not all of the mahoganies commonly met with are Cedrelas." Kiggelaria Dregeana (natural order Bixineae), a native of See also:South Africa, is known as See also:Natal mahogany.

End of Article: MAHOGANY

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