418 flint's NATURAL HISTORT. [Book XVI. 



wood of this part is known 6 a3 sappinus ; while that of the 

 upper part, which is harder and knotty, goes by the name of 

 " fusterna." In trees, the side which looks towards the north- 

 east is the most robust, and it is universally the case, that 

 those which grow in moist and damp localities are of inferior 

 quality, while in those which grow in warm and sunny spots, 

 the wood is more compact and durable ; hence it is, that at 

 Rome the fir is preferred that grows on the shores of the 

 Tyrrhenian Sea to that of the shores of the Adriatic. 



There are also considerable differences in the qualities of 

 these trees according to the country of their growth : the most 

 esteemed are those of the Alps and the Apennines ; in Gaul, 

 those of Jura 7 and Mount Yogesus ; those also of Corsica, 

 Bithynia,. Pontus, and Macedonia ; while the firs of ^Enea 8 and 

 Arcadia are of inferior quality. Those, however, of Parnassus 

 and Euboea are the worst of all, the trees being branchy and 

 knotted, and the wood very apt to rot. As for the cedar, those 

 of Crete, Africa, and Syria are the most esteemed. Wood, if 

 well rubbed with oil of cedar, is proof against wood- worm and 

 decay. The juniper, too, has the same 9 virtues as the cedar ; 

 in Spain it grows to a very considerable size, in the territory 

 of the Vaccgei 10 more particularly : the heart of this tree, too, 

 is universally more firm and solid than cedar even. A general 

 fault in all wood is that known as cross-grain, which is formed 

 by contortions of the knots and veins. 11 In the wood of some 

 trees there are to be found knurs, 12 like those in marble ; these 

 knurs are remarkably hard, and offer a resistance like that of 

 a nail, to the great injury of the saw : in some cases, also, they 

 are formed accidentally, from either a stone, or the branch of 

 another tree lodging there, and being absorbed in the body ot 



the tree. 



In the Porum at Megara there long stood a wild olive upon 

 Avhich warriors who had distinguished themselves by their 



« With reference to the fir, namely. 



7 B. iii. c. 5. 8 B. iv. c. 3. . . . 



9 An additional proof, perhaps, that the cedar of the ancients is only 

 one of the junipers, and that, as Fee says, they were not acquainted with 



the real cedar. 



to jj iij c 4, 



u " Spii'as" It seems to have been the opinion of the ancients that the 

 internal knots of the wood are formed spirally. Such is not the fact, as 

 they consist of independent layers. 12 Centra. 



