418 
Flint's natural histoey. 
[Book XTl, 
wood of this part is known^ as sappinus ; while that of the 
upper part, which is harder and knotty, goes by the name of 
fusterna.'' In trees, the side which looks towards the north- 
east is the most robust, and it is universally the case, that 
those which grow in moist and damp localities are of inferior 
quality, Avhile in those which grow in warm and sunny spots, 
the wood is more compact and durable ; hence it is, that at 
Eome the fir is preferred that grows on the shores of the 
Tyrrhenian Sea to that of the shores of the Adriatic. 
There are also considerable differences in the qualities of 
these trees according to the country of their growth : the most 
esteemed are those of the Alps and the Apennines ; in Gaul, . 
those of Jura^ and Mount Yogesus ; those also of Corsica, 
Bithynia, Pontus, and Macedonia ; while the firs of JEnea^ and 
Arcadia are of inferior quality. Those, however, of Parnassus 
and Eubcea are the worst of all, the trees being branchy and 
knotted, and the wood very apt to rot. As for the cedar, those 
of Crete, Africa, and Syria are the most esteemed. Wood, if 
well rubbed with oil of cedar, is proof against wood- worm and 
decay. The juniper, too, has the sarae^ virtues as the cedar ; 
in Spain it grows to a very considerable size, in the territory 
of the Vacc8ei more particularly : the heart of this tree, too, 
is universally more firm and solid than cedar even. A general 
fault in all wood is that known as cross-grain, which is formed 
by contortions of the knots and veins. In the wood of some 
trees there are to be found knurs, like those in marble ; these 
knurs are remarkably hard, and offer a resistance like that of 
a nail, to the great injury of the saw : in some cases, also, they 
are formed accidentally, from either a stone, or the branch of 
another tree lodging there, and being absorbed in the body of 
the tree. 
In the Forum at Megara there long stood a wild olive upon 
which warriors who had distinguished themselves by their 
6 With reference to the fir, namely. 
7 B. iii. c. 5. 8 B. iv. c. 3. 
9 An additional proof, perhaps, that the cedar of the ancients is only- 
one of the junipers, and that, as Fee says, they were not acquainted with 
the real cedar. 
10 B. iii. c. 4. 
11 " Spiras." It seems to have been the opinion of the ancients that the 
internal knots of the wood are formed spirally. Sucli is not the fact, as 
they consist of independent layers. Centra. 
