ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, V. v. 3-5 



disturbance and warping : it were rather to be 

 expected that it would die l when exposed. Yet 

 it is a fact that masts and yard-arms are useless, 

 if it has been removed from the wood of which 

 they are made. This is however an accidental ex- 

 ception, because the wood in question has several 

 coats, 2 of which the strongest and also thinnest is 

 the outermost, since this is the driest, while 

 the other coats are strong and thin in proportion 

 to their nearness to the outermost. If therefore 

 the wood be split, the driest parts are necessarily 

 stripped off. Whether however in the other case 

 the object of removing the core is to secure dryness 

 is matter for enquiry. 3 However, when the core 

 ' draws,' it twists the wood, whether it has been 

 split or sawn, if the sawing is improperly performed : 

 the saw-cut should be made straight and not slant- 

 wise. 4 Thus, if the core be represented by the 

 line A, the cut must be made along the line BD, 

 and not along the line BC : for in that case, they 

 say, the core will be destroyed, while, if cut in 

 the other way, it will live. For this reason men 

 think that every wood has a core : for it is clear 

 that those which do not seem to possess one never- 

 theless have it, as box nettle-tree kermes-oak : a proof 

 of this is the fact that men make of these woods the 

 pivots 5 of expensive doors, and accordingly 6 the 

 headcraftsmen specify that wood with a core shall 

 not 7 be used. This is also a proof that any core 

 ' draws,' even those of the hardest woods, which 

 some call the heart. In almost every wood, even 



6 cf, 5. 3. 5. <TTp6<t>iy here at least probably means ' pivot 

 and socket.' 



6 QUTWS Ald.H. ; avrovs conj. W. 7 py add. W. 



449 



