In cutting hard wood carpenters made use of a blunt axe,[1027] which thus became sharper, while soft wood produced the contrary effect.[1028] It was customary before timber was committed to the saw to soak it for some time in water;[1029] and it is said to have been rendered incombustible by a solution of alum and certain kinds of vinegar.[1030] The tools of the Greek carpenter as near as possible resembled our own; they had the saws small and great, the plane, the axe, the chisel, the square, the gimlet, the augur,[1031] the compass,[1032] and, in short, whatever else could be useful in their trade. Among the paintings of Herculaneum[1033] we find the representation of a carpenter’s workshop, where two winged genii are busily employed with the mallet and the saw. In making lines, &c., they used the ruddle now employed.[1034] ----- Footnote 1027: Lucian. Jup. Confut. § 11, who elsewhere commemorates the practice of carpenters, who shut one eye that they may see the better. Icaromenip. § 14. Footnote 1028: Theoph. Hist. Plant. v. 4. 7. Footnote 1029: Id. v. 6. 4. Footnote 1030: Aul. Gell. Noct. Apt. xv. 1. Footnote 1031: Auger-handles and small mallets were made of oleaster, box, elm, and ash; large mallets of pine wood. Theoph. Hist. Plant. v. 7. 8. Footnote 1032: Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 179. Footnote 1033: Antich. di Ercol. t. i. tav. 24, p. 181. Footnote 1034: Μίλτος τεκτονικὴ. Dioscor. v. 12. ----- Among the kinds of timber in most general use was the silver fir, thought to be extremely durable, in illustration of which Theophrastus relates the following circumstance: it happened at Pheneos, in Arcadia,[1035] that, owing to the obstruction of the torrent-beds, the plain was converted into a lake. To traverse this they constructed bridges of fir, and when the flood rose still higher, bridge upon bridge was erected in succession. Afterwards when the waters had worked themselves a passage and ebbed off, the whole of the wood of these bridges was found in the completest preservation.[1036] The other kinds of timber were the elm, used for doors, hinges, and weasel traps;[1037] the cypress,[1038] cedar, and juniper for wainscoting, beams, and paneled ceilings; the Arcadian, and the Idæan yew,[1039] which latter was sometimes fraudulently substituted for cedar; the Eubœan walnut, and the beech, which, not being subject to the rot, were resorted to for piles and substructions.[1040] The former of these trees, which grew to an extraordinary size, was likewise applied to the roofing of houses, chiefly because, by a loud crackling noise, it gave notice when it was about to break, and thus afforded the inmates leisure to effect their escape. This happened at the public baths of Antandros, where the company foreseeing from this warning sound the catastrophe that was approaching, rushed forth into the streets, and thus avoided being overwhelmed beneath the ruins.[1041] ----- Footnote 1035: