h, placed in the centre of the tallow,
which is moulded into a cylindrical form.

_Cylindrical_, having the form of a cylinder.

Is there not a tree which yields a vegetable Tallow?

Yes; China possesses a tree producing a substance like our tallow, of
which the Chinese make their candles; this tallow is extracted from
the stone of the fruit, the tallow being a white pulp which surrounds
it. In America, likewise, there is a shrub, a native of the temperate
parts, especially towards the sea-side, the seeds of which contain a
waxy substance used for the same purpose, and which is extracted by
boiling; this shrub is a species of myrtle, and does not attain to any
great size.

_Extracted_, drawn from.

What is Spermaceti?

A whitish, flaky, unctuous substance, prepared from an oil of the same
name, drawn from a particular kind of whale, distinguished from the
common whale by having teeth, and a hunch on its back.

_Flaky_, having the nature of flakes.

What is Wax?

A soft, yellow, concrete matter, collected from vegetables by the
bee, of which this industrious and useful insect constructs its cell.
Wax forms a considerable article of trade; it is of two kinds, the
yellow and the white; the yellow is the native wax as it is taken from
the hive, and the white is the same washed, purified, and exposed to
the air.

_Concrete_, grown together, solid.

What Tree produces the beautiful and well-known wood so much used in
making the various articles of household furniture?

The Mahogany Tree, growing in America, and the East and West Indies;
it frequently grows in the crevices of rocks, and other places of the
same description. This wood was not used for making furniture till
near the end of the seventeenth century. A London physician had a
brother, the captain of a West India ship, who, on his return to
England, having on board several logs of mahogany for the purpose of
ballast, made him a present of the wood, he being engaged in a
building project; his carpenter, however, threw it aside, observing
that it was too hard to be wrought. Some time after, the lady of the
physician being in want of a box to hold candles, the cabinet-maker
was directed to make it of this wood; he also made the same objection,
and declared that it spoiled his tools. Being urged, however, to make
another trial, he at length succeeded; when the box was polished, the
beautiful color of the wood was so novel, that