Chap. 74.] THE TELLING OE TREES. 415 



sap : after the slimy 91 pith has been carefully removed, it has 

 a similar degree of hardness to the bones in the bodies of 

 animals. It is said, too, that in Greece the inner part of the 

 elder is remarkably firm : indeed, those whose business it is to 

 make hunting spears, prefer this material to all others, it being 

 a wood composed wholly of skin and bone. 



CHAP. 74. THE TELLING OF TEEES. 



The proper time for felling trees that are wanted for 

 barking, the round, tapering trees, for instance, that are em- 

 ployed in temples and for other purposes, is at the period of 

 germination : 92 for at other times it is quite impossible to 

 detach the bark from the rotten wood that adheres to it, while 

 the wood itself assumes a blackish hue. Squared logs, and 

 wood from which the bark has been lopped, are generally cut 

 in the period that intervenes between the winter solstice and 

 the prevalence of the west winds ; or else, if it is necessary 

 to anticipate that period, at the setting of Arcturus and 

 before that of the Lyre, the very earliest period being the 

 summer solstice : the days of these respective constellations 

 will be mentioned in the appropriate place. 93 



In general it is looked upon as quite sufficient to use all 

 due precaution that a tree is not rough-hewn before it has 

 borne its yearly crop. The robur, if cut in spring, is subject 

 to the attacks of wood-worm, but if cut in winter, will neither 

 rot nor warp : otherwise it is very liable to bend and become 

 awry, as well as to crack ; the same is the case, too, with the 

 cork-tree, even if cut down at the proper time. The state of 

 the moon, 94 too, is of infinite importance, and it is generally 

 recommended that trees should be cut only between the twen- 

 tieth and the thirtieth days of the month. It is generally 

 agreed, however, by all, that it is the very best time for 

 felling timber, when the moon is in conjunction with the 

 sun, a day which is called by some persons the interlu- 

 nium, and by others the moon's silence. At all events, it was 



91 " Limo :" the alburnum previously mentioned. 



92 This practice was formerly forbidden by the forest laws of France. 



93 In B. xviii. 



94 Pliny borrows this superstition from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. 

 B. vi. c. 1. 



