sent day are white holly, box, pear
(in various shades), and holly (dyed all colours); while the veneer
merchants sometimes supply also planetree, sycamore, chestnut,
Brazilwood, yellow fustic, barwood, tulipwood, kingwood, East and West
India satinwood, rosewood, ebony, ash, harewood, Indian purplewood,
hornbeam, and snakewood. Bird's-eye maple and partridgewood may also be
bought.

Dye woods used for marquetry--Braziletto, cam wood, logwood, Nicaragua,
red sanders, sapan, ebony, fustic (a species of mulberry), Zante (a
species of sumach). "Ebony is the black pear tree of Madagascar, at
least they make cider of its fruit." So says M. Luchet in an interesting
excursus on furniture manufacture in his book on the Paris Exhibition of
1867, in which he gives further details of ancient manufacture and its
modern imitation. "I know a factory," he says, "where the tortoiseshell
is false, the mother-of-pearl false, the ivory holly wood; the brass is
the only real thing, because science applied to industry has not yet
found out how to imitate it. When Boulle employed wood in his work it
was ebony--they have abandoned that for blackened pear wood, under the
pretext that ebony is a hard, close wood which twists, splits, and
cracks, takes glue badly, and refuses varnish. So that they call a man
who never uses ebony 'ebeniste.' They did not trouble about these things
in the time of Louis XIV. They never varnished their furniture, so it
did not matter that ebony would not take varnish.... There are two sorts
of tortoiseshell, that of the Antilles, often bad and scaly, but good
enough for common work, because it is thin and equal in thickness, and a
little carmine vermilion gives it a not unpleasant red tint. The Indian
tortoiseshell is thick and opaque and unequal, demanding preparation and
welding. It can only be used for expensive work, and takes easily a
black preparation which makes it magnificently austere." One ought to
mention here that good shell was often treated with carmine vermilion or
with gold, and that without a colour background it loses half its beauty
and value.

"In modern times six or eight couples of shell and metal are sawn
together, whereas two was the number in the fine period. This saves
money. A new Boulle bed, secretary, or chest of drawers should cost 15
to 20,000 francs. You may easily get one for 2000 made of rubbish. An
honest chest of drawers with tolerable mountings is worth 1500 francs.
In gelatine