BOOK XVI. Lxxvi. 206-Lxxvii. 209 



olivc, the che.stnut, the liurnbeani and tlic |)oj)lar. 

 The last is also mottled hke the maplc - if only 

 any timber could be any good whcn the branches 

 of the tree are frequently lopped : this amounts to 

 gelding the tree, and takes away all its strength. 

 For the rest, most of these trees, but especially the 

 hard oak, are so hard that it is not possible to bore 

 a hole in the vvood until it has been soaked in water, 

 and even then when a nail has been driven right into 

 it it cannot be puUed out. On the other hand cedar 

 gives no hold to a nail. The softest of all woods is 

 Hme, and it is also apparently the hottest as well : 

 it is adduced in proof of this that it turns the edge of 

 adzes quicker than any other wood. Other hot 

 woods are mulberry, laurel, ivy and all those used for 

 making matches." 



LXXVII. This has been discovered by experience Wood/or 

 in the camps of miUtary scouting parties and '" "^' 

 of shepherds, because there is not always a stone 

 at hand to strike fire with ; consequently two 

 pieces of wood are rubbed together and catch fire 

 owing to the friction, and the fire is caught in a lump 

 of dry tinder, fungus or dead leaves catching most 

 readily. But there is nothing better than ivy wood 

 for rubbing against and laurel wood for rubbing with ; 

 one of the wild vines (not the claret-vine), which 

 chmbs up a tree hke ivy, is also spoken well of. 

 The trees that have the coldest wood of all are all otheruies/or 

 that grow in water; but the most flexible, and "^ 

 consequently the most suitable for making shields, 

 are those in which an incision draws together at once 

 and closes up its own wound, and which conse- 

 quently is more obstinate in allowing steel to 

 penetrate ; this class contains the vine, agnus castus, 



523 



