Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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              <s>
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              South are very hard, yet they are apt to warp
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              in their Sap, ſo that they are not ſtrait and
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              even enough for Service, Moreover, thoſe
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              which are in their Natures dry and ſlow growers,
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              are ſtronger than thoſe which are moiſt and
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              fruitful; wherefore
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              Varro
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              ſuppos'd that the
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              one were Male and the other Female, and that
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              white Timber was leſs cloſe and more tractable
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              than that which has any other Colour in it.
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              </s>
              <s>It is certain that heavy Wood is harder and
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              cloſer than light; and the Lighter it is, the
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              more Brittle; and the more Knotty the ſtronger.
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              </s>
              <s>Trees likewiſe which Nature has endu'd with
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              the longeſt Life, ſhe has always endu'd with
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              the Property of keeping longeſt from Decay
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              when cut down, and the leſs Sap they have, ſo
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              much they are the Stronger and more Hardy.
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              </s>
              <s>The Parts neareſt to the Sap are indeed
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              harder and cloſer than the reſt; but thoſe next
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              the Bark have more binding Nerves, for it is
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              ſuppos'd, in Trees juſt as in Animals, the Bark
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              is the Skin, the Parts next under the Bark are
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              the Fleſh, and that which encloſes the Sap, the
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              Bone; and
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              Ariſtotle
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              thought the Knots in Plants
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              were in the Nature of Nerves. </s>
              <s>Of all the Parts
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              of the Tree, the worſt is the Alburnum, or
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              Juice, that nouriſhes it, both becauſe it is very
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              apt to breed Worms, and upon ſeveral other
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              Accounts. </s>
              <s>To theſe Obſervations we may
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              add, that the Part of the Tree which, while
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              it was ſtanding, was towards the South, will
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              be dryer than the reſt, and thinner, and more
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              extenuated, but it will be firmer and cloſer;
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              and the Sap will be nearer to the Bark on that
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              Side than on the other. </s>
              <s>Thoſe Parts alſo
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              which are neareſt to the Ground and to the
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              Roots, will be heavier than any of the reſt; a
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              Proof whereof is that they will hardly float
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              upon the Water; and the Middle of all Trees
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              is the moſt knotty. </s>
              <s>The Veins too, the nea­
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              rer they are to the Roots, the more they are
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              wreath'd and contorted; nevertheleſs the
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              lower Parts are reckoned always ſtronger and
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              more uſeful than the Upper. </s>
              <s>But I find in
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              good Authors ſome very remarkable Things
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              of ſome Trees; they ſay that the Vine exceeds
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              even the Eternity of Time itſelf. </s>
              <s>In
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              Popolonia,
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              near
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              Piombino,
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              there was a Statue of
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              Jupiter
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              made of that Wood to be ſeen in
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              Cœſar
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              's Days,
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              which had laſted for a vaſt Number of Years
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              without the leaſt Decay; and indeed it is uni­
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              verſally allow'd that there is no Wood what­
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              ſoever more durable. </s>
              <s>In
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              Ariana,
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              a Province
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              of
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              India,
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              there are Vines ſo large, as
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Strabo
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                <lb/>
              informs us, that two Men can hardly embrace
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              its Trunk. </s>
              <s>They tell us of a Roof of Cedar
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              in
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              Utica
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              that laſted twelve Hundred and
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              ſeventy eight Years. </s>
              <s>In a Temple of
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              Diana
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              in
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              Spain
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              they ſpeak of Rafters of Juniper, that
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              laſted from two Hundred Years before the
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              Siege of
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              Troy
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              quite to the Days of
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              Hanibal.
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              The Cedar too is of a moſt wonderful Nature,
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              if as they ſay it is the only Wood that will
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              not retain the Nails. </s>
              <s>In the Mountains near
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              the Lake
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              Benacus,
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              or the
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              Lago di Garda,
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              grows a Kind of Fir, which, if you make
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              Veſſels of it, will not hold the Wine, unleſs
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              you firſt anoint them with Oil. </s>
              <s>Thus much
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              for Trees.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="head">
              <s>CHAP. VIII.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="head">
              <s>
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Of Stones in general, when they are to be dug, and when uſed; which are the
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              ſofteſt and which the hardeſt, and which beſt and moſt durable.
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              </s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>We muſt likewiſe make Proviſion of the
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              Stone which is to be uſed in our
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              Walls, and this is of two Sorts; the one proper
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              only ſor making the Lime and the Cement,
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              the other for erecting the Building. </s>
              <s>Of
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              this latter we ſhall treat firſt, omitting many
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              Particulars, both for the Sake of Brevity, and
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              becauſe they are already ſufficiently known.
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              </s>
              <s>Neither ſhall we ſpend any Time here in phi­
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              loſophical Enquiries about the Principle and
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              Origin of Stones; as, whether their firſt Par­
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              ticles, made viſcous by a Mixture of Earth and
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              Water, harden firſt into Slime, and afterwards
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              into Stone; or what is ſaid of Gems, that
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              they are collected and concreted by the Heat
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              and Power of the Rays of the Sun, or rather
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              that there is in the Boſom of the Earth certain
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              natural Seeds as of other Things, ſo alſo of
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              Stones: And whether their Colour is owing
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              to a certain proper blending of the Particles of
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              Water with very minute ones of Earth; or to
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              ſome innate Quality of its own Seed, or to an
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              Impreſſion receiv'd from the Sun's Rays. </s>
              <s>And
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              though theſe Diſquiſitions might perhaps help </s>
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          </chap>
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