Glue, too, plays one of the principal parts in all veneering
and works of marqueterie. For this purpose, the workmen
usually employ wood with a threaded vein, to which they give
the name of "ferulea," from its resemblance to the grain of
the giant fennel,[1] this part of the wood being preferred from
its being dotted and wavy. In every variety there are some
woods to be found that will not take the glue, and which refuse to unite either with wood of the same kind or of any
other; the wood of the robur for example. Indeed, it is
mostly the case that substances will not unite unless they are
of a similar nature; a stone, for instance, cannot be made to
adhere to wood. The wood of the service-tree, the yoke-elm,
the box, and, in a less degree, the lime, have a particular
aversion to uniting with the cornel. All the yielding woods
which we have already spoken[2] of as flexible readily adapt
themselves to every kind of work; and in addition to them,
the mulberry and the wild fig. Those which are moderately
moist are easily sawn and cut, but dry woods are apt to give
way beyond the part that is touched by the saw; while, on
the other hand, the green woods, with the exception of the
robur and the box, offer a more obstinate resistance, filling the
intervals between the teeth of the saw with sawdust, and
rendering its edge uniform and inert; it is for this reason
that the teeth are often made to project right and left in turns,
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