The fixteentli Books of 



Robur, it Will cbrrupt and tot in the fea, The Beech will doe well in watcr.arid the Walnut tree Q 

 likcwifc : but to Hand within the earth;, they are principall good^andhaveno fcllaw. And for 

 the luniper, it will hold the owne^ being laid under ground : but for building above in the opea 

 aire, it is excellent good. The Beech and the Cerrus wood rot quickly .The Iniall Oke called E(- 

 culus cannot abide the waccr.Thc Cherrie tree wood is ficme and fall: the Elme and tlie Afh are 

 toughj howbeitjthey will foonc fettle downeward and fag, being charged with any weight, but 

 bend they will before they breake : and in cafe before they were fallen, they ftood a while in the 

 wood, aftcrthcyhadakcrfe round about, for their fupcrfluousmoifture to runout untill they 

 were well driedjihcy would be the better & furer in building.lt is commonly faid^that the La rch 

 wood if it be put into ihips at fcajis fubjed to the wornie : like a§ all other kinds of woodjUnlefle 

 it be the wild and tame OlivcFor to concludc/omc timber is morcreadie to corrupt & be mgr- n 

 red in the rca,and others againe upon the land. 



Chap., xll. 



"^ofrnmesibathreedinmod^ 



OF verminc thatcatinto wood, there bee foure kinds. The firft arc called in Latinc Te- 

 redines : a very great head they have for the proportion of the bodiejand with their teeth 

 they gnaw. Thcfc arc found onely in fhips at fea, and indeed properly none other bed 

 Teredines. A fecond fort there beCjandthofe are land wormes or mothes^namedTinecE. But a 

 third kind refembling gnats, the Greekcs tearme by the name of Thripes. In the fourth place I 

 bee the little wormes : whereof fome are bred of the putrified humour and corruption in the 

 verie timber;likc as others againe engender in trecs,of a worme called Ccraftes : for having 

 gnawne and eaten fo much, that hcehath roumcynough to turnehim about withinthc hole 

 which he firftmadc,hceengcndretf>ihis other wonne. Now,fonie wood there is fo bitter, that 

 none of thcfc verminc will breed in itjSs the CyprelTe : others likewife fo hard, that they cannot 

 cat into ii,as the Boxe. Itisagcnerallopinion, that if theFirrc bee barked about die budding 

 times, at fuch an age of thcMoone as bath been before faid, it will neVer putrifie in the water. 

 Reported it is by thofe that accompanied i^lexander the,great in his voiage into the Eaft , that 

 in thclfland Tylos lying within the red feajthere be certain trees which fervc for timber to build 

 i"hips, the which v\ere knownc to continue two hundred yeares : and being drowned in the fea, K 

 were found with the wood nothing at all perifhcd. They affirmed moreover, that in the fame 

 Ifland there grew little plants or ilirubs, no thicker than would well fervc for walking ffavcs to 

 carie in a mans hand, the wood whereof was maffie and ponderous, flripedalfo and fpotted in 

 manner of a Tygres skin j but fo brittle withall, that if itchaunced to fail upon a thing hardes 

 than it ielfe, it would breake into fitters like glaffe. 



Chap. xlii. 



^ Of tintbergood for K^rchiteBurc and Carfentrie t what wood will ferve 

 for this or that worke : afid which is the flrongeji and frcp 

 timber for roufcs of bnildiHg, 



WEe have herein Italic, wood and timber that will cleave of it felfe. For which caufe , 

 our Maifler Carpenters give order to befiucare them with beafts dungjandfo to lie a 

 drying, that the wind and piercing aire fliould nor hurt them. The joiffs and plankes 

 made of Firre and Larch, are very ftrong to beareagreat weight, although they bee laid in 

 length overthwart. Contrariwife, the rafters made of the wild Oke Robur,and Olive wood, will 

 bcnd,and yccld under theii: load: wheras the other named bcfore^dorefift mainly and withftand, 

 neither will they eafily breake, iinleflfe'they have much wrong: nay fboner doe they rot, than fails 

 lida^x otherwife in ftrength. The Date-tree wood alfo is ^tough and if rong, for it yeeldeth not, but 

 ofhran. curbeth the contrarie way. The Poplar fcileth and bcndeth downeward : whereas the Date-tree M 

 contrariwife rifeth upward arch wife. The Pine and the Cyprefle arc not fubjed either to rotten^ 

 nefTcorworme-cating, The Walnut-tree wood foone bendcih,andisfaddle-backtasitlieth, 

 (for thereof alfo they often ufe to make beames and rafters ) but before that it breaketh, it 

 will give warning by a cracke j which favcd many a mans lilg^ in Eh.c Ifland Antandros, at what 



time 



