The fixteenth Booke of 



comfortable to a weakc ftomacke. The Elder beareth ecrtaine blackc and fmall Bci ri'cs/ull of a G 

 grofle and vifcous humorjufcd elpecially to die the haire of the head blackCi If chey be boiled in 

 water^thcy are good and wholcfome lo be eaccn^as other pothearbes^ 



G HAP, ■ XX XV III; 



^ of the ]mce or humor in trees/The nature of their mod md timber .The time ^.nd 

 manner of fdlingand cutting downe trees, 



TRccshavcacertaincmoifturc in their barkcs.whichvgc muft undcrftand to bee their ve. 

 ric bloudjyetis itnotihc fame, noralikcin all : for that of the Figge trees is as white as 

 milke, and as good as rendles to give the forme to cheefc , Cherric trees yeeld a gliui- H 

 nous and gummiehuaior^but Elmes a thin liquor in manner of Ipittle. In Apple trees the lame 

 is fattic and vifcous ; in Vines and Pyrries, waierifh. And generallya thofe trees continue and 

 live longeft that haycfuqh a glcwic moiftureinthem. In fummcj there arc to becconfidered 

 inthcfubftanccandbodicof trecsj like as of all other living creaiurcsj their skin, their bloud, 

 flcfh, finewesjvcincsj bones, and marrow . For in lieu of their hide is the barke* And I alTure 

 youja ftraungeand marvellous thing it is to be obfctved here in theMulberriej that when Phy- 

 ficians feeke to draw theforefaid liquouroutof it, at feven or eight a clocke in a morning, \{ 

 they fcarifieor lightly cut thebarke with altone,it iflueihforthjand they have their de&c 5 but 

 if theycru^h prcut it deeperin, they meet with no more moifturc than if it wereilatkedrie.Ia 

 moll trees next to the skiq lieth thcfat : this is nought clfe but that white fap, which of the co- I 

 lour is called in Latin Alburnum. As it is foft in fubilancCjlb is it the worf^ part of the wood, and 

 even in the fliongOkCjas hard as otherwife it is jyc fhall have it foonc to putrifie and rotjycajand 

 quickly to bee worme-caten. And therefore, if aman would have found and good timber, this 

 white muft be alwaics cut away in the fquaring.After itjfoUoweth the flefh of the treejand fo the 

 bonejwhich is the very heart and beft of the wood. 



All trees whereof the wood is over drie, bcare fruit but each other ycarc, or at leaflwife more 

 in one yeare than anothct, as namely, the Olive tree*- A thing obfetvcd more in them, than 

 in thofe that have a, pulpoqs and flefliic fubff ancc, as the Cherric tree. Neither are all trees 

 indifferently fuinifhed withfloreof the fiaid fatorflelh, no more than the moft fierce and fu- 

 rious beafts .V As for the BoxCj Cornell, and Olive trees, they have neither the one northe K 

 other, nc yet any marrow at all, and butverie little bloud . Scmblably, the Servife tree hath 

 no heart, the Elder no carnofitie, (and yet both of them are ftorcd well ynough wiihmarrow^ 

 which is their pith) no more than canes or rccdes for the moft part. In the fiefliie fubflance 

 or wood of fomc trees, there are to bee found graine and veine both . And eafic it is to di- 

 ftinguifh the one from the other : for commonly the veines bee larger and whiter 5 contrari- 

 wifejthe graine (which the LatinescallPulpa) runneth ftreightand dirc«5l in length, and is 

 to bee found ordinarily in trees that will cafily cleave , And hereupon it commeth. That if a 

 man lay his eare clofe to one end of a beame or peece of timberj hc fhall hcare the knocke or 

 pricke that is made but with a penknife at the other end, bee the peecc never fo long, by rcafon 

 th at the found goeth along the flrcigh t graine of the wood. By this meancs alio a man lhall find ^« 

 when the timber doth twine, and whether it runne not evien^butbceinterrupted with knots in 

 the way. 



Some trecstheie be that have ccrtdmc'bard bunches, bearing but and fwellinglike to ker- 

 nels in the flefh of a Swines necke, and thefe knobs or callofities, have not in them long graine 

 and broad veine,as is abovefaid : but oncly a brawnie flcfh(as it were)rolled round togethcr.And 

 tofayanuthj when fuch knurs and callofitics as thefe bee, are found either in Citron or Maple 

 trees, men make great account of them, and fet no fmall (lore by that wood. All other forts of 

 tablesjwhen the trees are cloven or fawnc intoplankes^are brought into a round compafle with 

 the graine : for otherwife, if it were flit overthwart to make them round againft the grain,ii would 

 (pone breake out. As touching the Beech, the graine;of it runneth crpfTe two contrarie waies M 

 iikccombe teeth; but in old time the veflcls made of that woodjwere highly efteemed. As for 

 example, Manim Curim having fubdued hiscnemiesjprotefkdjand bound it with an oih,Thac 

 of all the bootie and pillage taken from them, hec hath not refcrved any thing for himfclfe,but 

 oncly a cruet or little ewer of jBc^ch wood^wherewith kc Hiight facyificc unto the gods, 



^ " There 



