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CHAPTER X.

OP THE FIRS CALLED SUPERNAS AND INFERNAS,AND OF THE APENNINES.

The Apennines begin from the Tyrrhene Sea, extendingto the Alps on one side, and the borders of Tuscany onthe other; and their summits spreading in the shape of abow, almost touch the shores of the Adriatic in the cen-tre of their range, which ends near the Straits of Sicily.The hither side of them towards Tuscany and Campania,is in point of climate extremely mild, being continuallywarmed by the sun’s rays. The further side, which lies to-wards the upper sea,isexposed to the north, and is enclosedby thick and gloomy shadow. The trees, therefore,which grow in that part being nourished by continualmoisture, not only grow to a great size, but their fibresbeing too much saturated with it, swell out considerably.When hewn, therefore, and squared, and deprived oftheir natural vegetation, they change in drying the hard-ness of the grain, and become weak and apt to decay, onaccount of the openness of their pores. They are, there-fore, of little durability in buildings. On the contrary,those which grow on the side opposite to the sun, notbeing so porous, harden in drying, because the sun drawsthe moisture from trees no less than from the earth.Hence, those which grow in open sunny places, are moresolid, on account of the closeness of their pores, andwhen squared for use, are exceedingly lasting. The fir,which goes by the name of Infernas, brought from thewarm open parts, is therefore preferable to the sort called