In a dry state mahogany Is very durable, and not liable to the attack of worms, but, when exposed to the weather it does not last long. It would therefore make excellent material for floors, roofs, etc., but its costliness limits its utility in this direction, and it is chiefly employed for furniture, doors, and a few other articles of joinery, for which it is among the best materials known. It has been used for sashes and window frames, but is not desirable for this purpose on account of the ease with which it is affected by the weather. It has also been used in England to some extent for the framing of machinery in cotton-mills. Its color is a reddish brown of different shades and luster, sometimes becoming a yellowish brown, and often much veined and mottled with darker shades of the same color. Its texture is uniform, and the rings indicating its annual growth are not very distinct. The larger medullary rays are absent, but the smaller ones are often very distinct, with pores between them. In the Jamaica woods these pores are often filled with a white substance, but in that brought from Central America they are generally empty. It has neither taste nor odor, shrinks very slightly, and warps, it is said, less than any other wood. The variety called Spanish mahogany comes from the West Indies, and is in smaller logs than the Honduras mahogany, being generally about two feet square and ten feet long. It is close grained and hard, generally darker than the Honduras, free from black specks, and sometimes strongly marked; the pores appear as though chalk had been rubbed into them. The Honduras mahogany comes in logs from two to four feet square and twelve to fourteen long; planks have been obtained seven feet wide. Its grain is very open and often irregular, with black or gray specks. The veins and figures are often very distinct and handsome, and that of a fine golden color and free from gray specks is considered the best. It holds the glue better than any other wood. The weight of a cubic foot of mahogany varies from thirty-five to fifty-three pounds. Its strength is between sixty-seven and ninety-six, stiffness seventy-three to ninety-three, and toughness sixty-one to ninety-nine--oak being considered as one hundred in each case.