Page:Enquiry into plants (Volume 1).pdf/491

 speaking, useful for ship-building; for triremes and long ships are made of silver-fir, because of its lightness, and merchant ships of fir, because it does not decay; while some make triremes of it also because they are ill provided with silver-fir. The people of Syria and Phoenicia use Syrian cedar, since they cannot obtain much fir either; while the people of Cyprus use Aleppo pine, since their island provides this and it seems to be superior to their fir. Most parts are made of these woods; but the keel for a trireme is made of oak, that it may stand the hauling; and for merchantmen it is made of fir. However they put an oaken keel under this when they are hauling, or for smaller vessels a keel of beech; and the sheathing is made entirely of this wood.

(However oak-wood does not join well with glue on to fir or silver-fir; for the one is of close, the other of open grain, the one is uniform, the other not so; whereas things which are to be made into one piece should be of similar character, and not of opposite character, like wood and stone.)

The work of bentwood for vessels is made of mulberry manna-ash elm or plane; for it must be tough and strong. That made of plane-wood is the worst, since it soon decays. For triremes some make such parts of Aleppo pine because of its lightness. The cutwater, to which the sheathing is attached, and the catheads are made of manna-ash mulberry