fore go on to collect tho&longs;e Rules which the <lb/>
mo&longs;t approved Ancients have left us in many <lb/>
and various Places, and to the&longs;e, according to <lb/>
our Cu&longs;tom, we &longs;hall add whatever we our<lb/>
&longs;elves have deduced from antique Works, or <lb/>
the In&longs;tructions of mo&longs;t experienced Artificers, <lb/>
if we happen to know any Thing that may be <lb/>
&longs;erviceable to our Purpo&longs;e. </s> <s>And I believe it <lb/>
will be the be&longs;t Method, following Nature <lb/>
her&longs;elf, to begin with tho&longs;e Things which were <lb/>
&longs;ir&longs;t in U&longs;e among Men in their Buildings; <lb/>
which, if we mi&longs;take not, were Timber Trees <lb/>
which they fell'd in the Woods: Though <lb/>
among Authors, I find, &longs;ome are divided <lb/>
upon this very Subject. </s> <s>Some will have it, <lb/>
that Men at fir&longs;t dwelt in Caves, and that <lb/>
they and their Cattle were both &longs;heltered <lb/>
under the &longs;ame Roof; and therefore they <lb/>
believe what <emph type="italics"/>Pliny<emph.end type="italics"/> tells us, that one <emph type="italics"/>Gellius <lb/>
Texius<emph.end type="italics"/> was the fir&longs;t, that, in Imitation of Na<lb/>
ture built him&longs;elf a Hou&longs;e of Mud. <emph type="italics"/>Diodorus<emph.end type="italics"/><lb/>
&longs;ays that <emph type="italics"/>Ve&longs;ta,<emph.end type="italics"/> the Daughter of <emph type="italics"/>Saturn,<emph.end type="italics"/> was <lb/>
the fir&longs;t that invented Hou&longs;es. <emph type="italics"/>Eu&longs;ebius <lb/>
Pamphilus,<emph.end type="italics"/> an excellent Searcher into Antiqui<lb/>
ty, tells us from the Te&longs;timony of the Ancients, <lb/>
that the Grand&longs;ons of <emph type="italics"/>Protogenes<emph.end type="italics"/> fir&longs;t taught <lb/>
Men the Building of Hou&longs;es, which they <lb/>
patch'd up of Reeds and Bullru&longs;hes: But to <lb/>
return to our Subject. </s> <s>The Ancients, then, <lb/>
and particularly <emph type="italics"/>Theophra&longs;tus,<emph.end type="italics"/> inform us, that <lb/>
mo&longs;t Trees, and e&longs;pecially the Fir, the Pitch<lb/>
tree and the Pine, ought to be cut immediately, <lb/>
when they begin to put forth their young <lb/>
Shoots, when through their abundance of Sap <lb/>
you mo&longs;t ea&longs;ily &longs;trip off the Bark. </s> <s>But that <lb/>
there are &longs;ome Trees, as the Maple, the Elm, <lb/>
the A&longs;h, and the Linden, which are be&longs;t cut <lb/>
after Vintage. </s> <s>The Oak if cut in Summer, <lb/>
they ob&longs;erve is apt to breed Worms; but if in <lb/>
Winter, it will keep &longs;ound and not &longs;plit. <lb/>
</s> <s>And it is not foreign to our Purpo&longs;e what they <lb/>
remark, that Wood which is cut in Winter, in <lb/>
a North Wind, though it be green, will never<lb/>
thele&longs;s burn extremely well, and in a Manner <lb/>
without Smoak; which manife&longs;tly &longs;hews that <lb/>
their Juices are not crude, but well dige&longs;ted. <lb/>
<emph type="italics"/>Vitruvius<emph.end type="italics"/> is for cutting Timber from the be<lb/>
ginning of Autumn, till &longs;uch Time as the &longs;oft <lb/>
We&longs;terly Winds begin to blow. </s> <s>And <emph type="italics"/>He&longs;iod<emph.end type="italics"/><lb/>
&longs;ays, that when the Sun darts his burning Rays <lb/>
directly upon our Heads, and turns Mens Com<lb/>
plections to brown, then is the Time for Har<lb/>
ve&longs;t, but that when the Trees drop their <lb/>
Leaves, then is the Sea&longs;on for cutting of Tim<lb/>
ber. <emph type="italics"/>Cato<emph.end type="italics"/> moderates the Matter thus; let the <lb/>
Oak, &longs;ays he, be felled during the Sol&longs;tice, be<lb/>
cau&longs;e in Winter it is always out of Sea&longs;on; other <lb/>
Woods that bear Seed may be cut when that <lb/>
is mature; tho&longs;e that bear none, when you <lb/>
plea&longs;e. </s> <s>Tho&longs;e that have their Seeds green and <lb/>
ripe at the &longs;ame Time, &longs;hould be cut when <lb/>
that is fallen, but the Elm when the Leaves <lb/>
drop. </s> <s>And they &longs;ay it is of very great Im<lb/>
portance, what Age the Moon is of when you <lb/>
fell your Timber: For they are all of Opini<lb/>
on, and e&longs;pecially <emph type="italics"/>Varro,<emph.end type="italics"/> that the Influence of <lb/>
the Moon is &longs;o powerful over Things of this <lb/>
Nature, that even they who cut their Heir in <lb/>
the Wane of the Moon, &longs;hall &longs;oon grow bald; <lb/>
and for this Rea&longs;on, they tell us, <emph type="italics"/>Tiberius<emph.end type="italics"/> ob<lb/>
&longs;erved certain Days for cutting his Hair. </s> <s>The <lb/>
A&longs;trologers affirm, that your Spirits will al<lb/>
ways be oppre&longs;&longs;ed with Melancholly, if you <lb/>
cut your Nails or Hair while the Moon is op<lb/>
pre&longs;&longs;ed or ill di&longs;po&longs;ed. </s> <s>It is to our pre&longs;ent <lb/>
Purpo&longs;e what they &longs;ay, that &longs;uch Things as <lb/>
are de&longs;igned in their U&longs;es to be moveable, <lb/>
ought to be cut and wrought when the Moon <lb/>
is in <emph type="italics"/>Libra<emph.end type="italics"/> or <emph type="italics"/>Cancer;<emph.end type="italics"/> but &longs;uch as are to be <lb/>
fixed and immoveable, when &longs;he is in <emph type="italics"/>Leo, <lb/>
Taurus,<emph.end type="italics"/> or the like. </s> <s>But that Timber ought <lb/>
to be cut in the Wane of the Moon, all the <lb/>
Learned are agreed, becau&longs;e they hold that the <lb/>
flegmatick Moi&longs;ture, &longs;o very liable to immedi<lb/>
ate Putrefaction, is then almo&longs;t quite dried up, <lb/>
and it is certain, that when it is cut in &longs;uch a <lb/>
Moon, it is never apt to breed Worms. </s> <s>Hence <lb/>
they &longs;ay you ought to reap the Corn which <lb/>
you intend to &longs;ell, at full Moon; becau&longs;e then <lb/>
the Ears are full; but that which you intend <lb/>
to keep in the Wane. </s> <s>It is al&longs;o evident, that <lb/>
the Leaves of Trees cropt in the Wane of the <lb/>
Moon do not rot. <emph type="italics"/>Columella<emph.end type="italics"/> thinks it be&longs;t to <lb/>
fell Timber from the twentieth to the thirtieth <lb/>
Day of the Moon's Age; <emph type="italics"/>Vegetius,<emph.end type="italics"/> from the <lb/>
fifteenth to the two and twentieth; and hence <lb/>
he &longs;uppo&longs;es the religious Ceremony to ari&longs;e, of <lb/>
celebrating all My&longs;teries relating to Eternity <lb/>
only on tho&longs;e Days, becau&longs;e Wood cut then <lb/>
la&longs;ted in a Manner for ever. </s> <s>They add, that <lb/>
we &longs;hould likewi&longs;e ob&longs;erve the Setting of the <lb/>
Moon. </s> <s>But <emph type="italics"/>Pliny<emph.end type="italics"/> thinks it a proper Time to <lb/>
fell Trees when the Dog-&longs;tar reigns, and when <lb/>
the Moon is in Conjunction with the Sun, <lb/>
which Day is called an <emph type="italics"/>Interlunium,<emph.end type="italics"/> and &longs;ays <lb/>
it is good to wait for the Night of that Day <lb/>
too, till the Moon is &longs;et. </s> <s>The A&longs;tronomers <lb/>
&longs;ay, the Rea&longs;on of this is, becau&longs;e the Action <lb/>
of the Moon puts the Fluids of all Bodies into <lb/>
Motion; and that therefore when tho&longs;e Fluids