BOOK XVI. VIII. 21 24 



sweet; also there is a difference in the shortness or 

 length of the stalk. 



In respect of the trees themselves the one that Varietiesn/ 

 bears the largest acorn is called the hemeris;" this ifk-^ti^li. 

 is a comparativcly low-growing oak which forms a 

 circle of bushy fohage and which is frequently hollow 

 at the spread of the branches.'' The wood of 

 the common oak is stronger and less Uable to decay ; 

 this variety also has many branches, but grows liigher 

 and has a thicker trunk ; but the loftiest kind is the 

 aegilops/ which Hkes wild uncultivated country. 



Next to this in height is the broad-leaved oak, but 

 it is less useful for builders' timber and for charcoal, 

 and when hewn with the axe is Hable to spht, on 

 which account it is used in the unhewn state. As 

 charcoal it only pays to use it in a copper-smith's 

 workshop, becaase as soon as the bellows stop it dies 

 down and has to be rekindled repeatedly ; but it 

 gives out a great quantity of sparks. A better 

 charcoal is obtained from young trees. Piles of 

 freshly cut sticks are fitted closely together and made 

 into an oven with clay, and the structure is set fire 

 to, and the shell as it hardens is prodded with poles 

 and so discharges its moisture. 



The worst kind both for charcoal and for timber is 

 the one called in Greek the ' sea-cork ' oak, which 

 has a very thick bark and trunk, the latter usually 

 hollow and spongy ; and no other variety of the oak 

 class is so Hable to rot, even while it is aHve. More- 

 over it is very frequently struck by Hghtning, 

 although it is not particularly lofty ; consequently 

 it is not thought right to u.se its wood for sacrifices 

 either. Also it rarely bears acorns, and when it does 

 they are bitter, so that no animal will touch them 



403 



