Archimedes Texts

31
South are very hard, yet they are apt to warp
in their Sap, so that they are not strait and
even enough for Service, Moreover, those
which are in their Natures dry and slow growers,
are stronger than those which are moist and
fruitful; wherefore Varro suppos'd that the
one were Male and the other Female, and that
white Timber was less close and more tractable
than that which has any other Colour in it.
It is certain that heavy Wood is harder and
closer than light; and the Lighter it is, the
more Brittle; and the more Knotty the stronger.
Trees likewise which Nature has endu'd with
the longest Life, she has always endu'd with
the Property of keeping longest from Decay
when cut down, and the less Sap they have, so
much they are the Stronger and more Hardy.
The Parts nearest to the Sap are indeed
harder and closer than the rest; but those next
the Bark have more binding Nerves, for it is
suppos'd, in Trees just as in Animals, the Bark
is the Skin, the Parts next under the Bark are
the Flesh, and that which encloses the Sap, the
Bone; and Aristotle thought the Knots in Plants
were in the Nature of Nerves. Of all the Parts
of the Tree, the worst is the Alburnum, or
Juice, that nourishes it, both because it is very
apt to breed Worms, and upon several other
Accounts. To these Observations we may
add, that the Part of the Tree which, while
it was standing, was towards the South, will
be dryer than the rest, and thinner, and more
extenuated, but it will be firmer and closer;
and the Sap will be nearer to the Bark on that
Side than on the other. Those Parts also
which are nearest to the Ground and to the
Roots, will be heavier than any of the rest; a
Proof whereof is that they will hardly float
upon the Water; and the Middle of all Trees
is the most knotty. The Veins too, the nea
rer they are to the Roots, the more they are
wreath'd and contorted; nevertheless the
lower Parts are reckoned always stronger and
more useful than the Upper. But I find in
good Authors some very remarkable Things
of some Trees; they say that the Vine exceeds
even the Eternity of Time itself. In Popolonia,
near Piombino, there was a Statue of Jupiter
made of that Wood to be seen in Cœsar's Days,
which had lasted for a vast Number of Years
without the least Decay; and indeed it is uni
versally allow'd that there is no Wood what
soever more durable. In Ariana, a Province
of India, there are Vines so large, as Strabo
informs us, that two Men can hardly embrace
its Trunk. They tell us of a Roof of Cedar
in Utica that lasted twelve Hundred and
seventy eight Years. In a Temple of Diana
in Spain they speak of Rafters of Juniper, that
lasted from two Hundred Years before the
Siege of Troy quite to the Days of Hanibal.
The Cedar too is of a most wonderful Nature,
if as they say it is the only Wood that will
not retain the Nails. In the Mountains near
the Lake Benacus, or the Lago di Garda,
grows a Kind of Fir, which, if you make
Vessels of it, will not hold the Wine, unless
you first anoint them with Oil. Thus much
for Trees.

Of Stones in general, when they are to be dug, and when used; which are the
softest and which the hardest, and which best and most durable.

We must likewise make Provision of the
Stone which is to be used in our
Walls, and this is of two Sorts; the one proper
only sor making the Lime and the Cement,
the other for erecting the Building. Of
this latter we shall treat first, omitting many
Particulars, both for the Sake of Brevity, and
because they are already sufficiently known.
Neither shall we spend any Time here in phi
losophical Enquiries about the Principle and
Origin of Stones; as, whether their first Par
ticles, made viscous by a Mixture of Earth and
Water, harden first into Slime, and afterwards
into Stone; or what is said of Gems, that
they are collected and concreted by the Heat
and Power of the Rays of the Sun, or rather
that there is in the Bosom of the Earth certain
natural Seeds as of other Things, so also of
Stones: And whether their Colour is owing
to a certain proper blending of the Particles of
Water with very minute ones of Earth; or to
some innate Quality of its own Seed, or to an
Impression receiv'd from the Sun's Rays. And
though these Disquisitions might perhaps help