[2674] Hard wood—such as we know generally as “heart;” “heart of oak” for instance.
[2675] Probably that of the ligneous layers near the pith or sap.
[2676] “Limo:” the alburnum previously mentioned.
[2677] This practice was formerly forbidden by the forest laws of France.
[2678] In B. xviii.
[2679] Pliny borrows this superstition from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 1.
[2680] This was the name of mimic sea-fights, exhibited at Rome in the Circus or amphitheatres, or else in lakes dug expressly for the purpose. Hardouin says, there were five Naumachiæ at Rome, in the 14th region of the City.
[2681] This practice is no longer followed.
[2682] De Re Rust. c. 31; also cc. 17 and 37.
[2683] This practice is observed in modern times.