428 
PLINY S NATURAL HISTOET. 
[Book XVI. 
a method by which the saw- dust is discharged. The ash is 
found the most pliable wood of all for working ; and, indeed, 
for making spears it is better even than the hazel, being 
lighter than the cornel, and more pliable than the wood of 
the service-tree. The Gallic variety is so supple, that it is 
employed in the construction of vehicles even. The elm 
would rival the trunk of the vine^^ for some purposes, were 
it not that its weight is so much against it. 
CHAP. 84. VENEEEING. 
The wood, too, of the beech is easily worked, although it is | 
brittle and soft. Cut into thin layers of veneer, it is very 
flexible, but is only used for the construction of boxes and 
desks. The wood, too, of the holm-oak is cut into veneers 
of remarkable thinness, the colour of which is far from un- 
sightly ; but it is more particularly where it is exposed to 
friction that this wood is valued, as being one to be depended 
upon ; in the axle-trees of wheels, for instance ; for which the 
ash is also employed, on account of its pliancy, the holm-oak 
for its hardness, and the elm, for the union . in it of both I 
those qualities. There are also various workman's tools made 
of wood, which, though but small, are still remarkably useful ; 
in this respect, it is said that the best materials for making 
auger handles are the wild olive, the box, the holm-oak, the 
elm, and the ash. Of the same woods also mallets are made ; 
the larger ones, however, are made of the pine and the holm- 
oak. These woods, too, have a greater degree of strength and 
hardness if cut in season than when hewn prematurely ; indeed, 
it has been known for hinge-jambs, made of olive, a wood of 
remarkable hardness, after having remained a considerable 
time on the spot, to put out buds^^ like a growing plant. Cato^^ 
recommends levers to be made of holly, laurel, or elm ; and 
Hyginus speaks highly of the yoke-elm, the holm-oak, and 
the cerrus, for the handles of agricultural implements. 
The best woods for cutting into layers, and employing as a 
49 See c. 24. 
50 Fee thinks, from the context, that the meaning is, that the vine was 
employed in the construction of chariots ; it depends entirely on the punc- 
tuation adopted. 
This could only have happened in the first year that they were so 
employed. De Re Rust. c. 31, 
