BOOK XVI. XVI. 38-xviii. 42 



tree. XMI. Tlie piiiasler is iiothing else l)ut a wild ^''(^me. 

 piiie tree of smaller height throwiiig out branches 

 from the middle as the pine does at thc top, This 

 variety gives a larger quantity of resin, in the manner 

 wliich we shall describe. It grovvs in flat countries §5 57f. 

 also. Most people think that trees called tibuH 

 that grow along the coasts of Italy are the same tree 

 with another name, but the tibulus is a slender tree 

 and more compact than the pinaster, and being free 

 from knots is used for building hght galhes ; it is 

 almost devoid of resin. 



XVII I. The pitch-pine loves mountains and cokl Pitch-pine» 

 locahties. It is a funereal tree, and is placed at the '^" 

 doors of houses as a token of bereavement and grown 

 on graves ; nevertheless nowadays it has also been 

 admitted into our homes because of the ease with 

 which it can be chpped into various shapes. This 

 pine gives out a quantity of resin interspersed with 

 white drops so closely resembhng frankincense that 

 when mixed with it they are indistinguishable to the 

 eye ; hence the adulteration is practised in the 

 Seplasia.'* AU these classes of trees have short 

 leaves, but rather thick and hard hke the leaf of the 

 cypress. The branches of the pitch-pine are of 

 moderate size and grow out almost immediately 

 ffom the root of the tree, attached to its sides hke 

 arms. 



Similarly the fir, which is in great demand for build- 

 ing sliips, grows high up on mountains, as though 

 it had run away from the sea; and its shape is the 

 same as that of the pitch-pine. But it supphes 

 excellent timber for beams and a great many of the 

 apphances of hfe. Resin, which gives its value to the 

 pitch-pine, is a defect in the fir, which occasionally 



415 



