d it self (for I can
hardly call it timber) soon after the worm has seiz'd it, unless one
spunge and imbibe it well with the oyl of spike, where they have made
holes. Ricciolus indeed much commends it for oars; and some say, that
the vast Argo was built of the _fagus_, a good part of it at least, as
we learn out of Apollonius; this will admit of interpretation; the
_fagus_ yet by Claudian is mentioned with the alder,

So he that to export o're sea his wares
A vessel builds, and to expose prepares
His life to storms, first beech and elder cuts,
And measuring them, to various uses puts.{79:1}

But whilst we thus condemn the timber, we must not omit to praise the
mast, which fats our swine and deer, and hath in some families even
supported men with bread: Chios indured a memorable siege by the benefit
of this mast; and in some parts of France they now grind the buck in
mills: It affords a sweet oyl, which the poor people eat most willingly:
But there is yet another benefit which this tree presents us; that its
very leaves (which make a natural and most agreeable canopy all the
summer) being gathered about the fall, and somewhat before they are much
frostbitten, afford the best and easiest mattrasses in the world to lay
under our quilts instead of straw; because, besides their tenderness and
loose lying together, they continue sweet for seven or eight years
long, before which time straw becomes musty and hard; they are thus used
by divers persons of quality in Dauphine; and in Swizzerland I have
sometimes lain on them to my great refreshment; so as of this tree it
may properly be said,

The wood's an house; the leaves a bed.{80:1}

Being pruin'd it heals the scar immediately, and is not apt to put forth
so soon again as other trees.

The stagnant water in the hollow-trees cures the most obstinate tetters,
scabs, and scurfs, in man or beast, fomenting the part with it; and the
leaves chew'd are wholsome for the gums and teeth, for which the very
buds, as they are in winter hardned and dried upon the twigs, make good
tooth-pickers. Swine may be driven to mast about the end of August: But
it is observ'd, that where they feed on't before it be mature, it
intoxicates them for a while; and that generally their fat is not so
good and solid, but drips away too soon. In the mean time, the kernels
of the mast are greedily devour'd by squirels, mice, and above all, the
dormice, who harbouring in the hollow-tr