Hi all, regarding logwood and what it is.  My Webster's New Concise
Illustrated Dictionary from the turn of the last century defines
Logwood as a "Wood of dark red color, used as a dye-wood".  According
to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Ninth Edition, 1882):

  "Logwood is a valuable dye-wood, the product of a leguminous tree,
  Haematoxylum campechianum, native of Central America, and grown
  also in the West Indian Islands.  The tree attains a height not
  exceeding 40 feet, and is said to be ready for felling when it is
  about ten years old.  The wood, deprived of its bark and the
  sap-wood, is sent into the market in the form of large blocks and
  billets.  It is very hard and dense, and externally has a dark
  brownish-red colour; but it is less deeply coloured within.

  "The best qualities come from Compeachy, but it is obtained there
  only in small quantity.  A large export trade in logwood of good
  quality is carried on from Honduras and Jamaica, and inferior
  qualities are exported from St. Domingo, Martinique, Guadaloupe, &c.
  The wood was introduced into Europe as a dyeing substance soon after
  the discovery of America, but for many years (from 1581 to 1662) its
  use in England was prohibited by legislative enactment on account of
  the inferior dyes which at first were produced by its employment."

The article continues with chemical formulae and specifics on its uses
and so on...

Alan Turner