ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, V. V. 3–5
disturbance and warping; it were rather to be expected that it would die[1] when exposed. Yet it is a fact that masts and yard-arms are useless, if it has been removed from the wood of which they are made. This is however an accidental exception, because the wood in question has several coats,[2] of which the strongest and also thinnest is the outermost, since this is the driest, while the other coats are strong and thin in proportion to their nearness to the outermost. If therefore the wood be split, the driest parts are necessarily stripped off. Whether however in the other case the object of removing the core is to secure dryness is matter for enquiry.[3] However, when the core 'draws,' it twists the wood, whether it has been split or sawn, if the sawing is improperly performed: the saw-cut should be made straight and not slant-wise. [4]Thus, if the core be represented by the line A, the cut must be made along the line BD, and not along the line BC: for in that case, they say, the core will be destroyed, while, if cut in the other way, it will live. For this reason men think that every wood has a core: for it is clear that those which do not seem to possess one nevertheless have it, as box nettle-tree kermes-oak: a proof of this is the fact that men make of these woods the pivots[5] of expensive doors, and accordingly[6] the headcraftsmen specify that wood with a core shall not[7] be used. This is also a proof that any core 'draws,' even those of the hardest woods, which some call the heart. In almost every wood, even
