ct the French word "coller" with it. Vitruvius and
Pliny use the words "cerostrata" or "celostrata," which means, strictly
speaking, "inlaid with horn," and "xilostraton." The woods used by the
Greeks were ebony, cypress, cedar, oak, "sinila," yew, willow, lotus
(celtis australis), and citron (thuyia cypressoides), a tree which grew
on the slopes of the Atlas mountains. The value of large slabs of this
last was enormous. Pliny says that Cicero, who was not very wealthy
according to Roman notions, spent 500,000 sesterces (about L5400) for
one table. Asinius Pollio spent L10,800, King Juba L13,050, and the
family of the Cethegi L15,150 for a single slab. The value of this wood
consisted chiefly in the beautiful lines of the veins and fibres; when
they ran in wavy lines they were called "tigrinae," tiger tables; when
they formed spirals like so many little whirlpools they were called
"pantherinae," or panther tables, and when they had undulating, wavy
marks like the filaments of a feather, especially if resembling the eyes
on a peacock's tail, they were very highly esteemed. Next in value were
those covered with dense masses of grain, called "apiatae," parsley wood.
But the colour of the wood was also a great factor in the value, that of
wine mixed with honey being most highly prized. The defect in that kind
of table was called "lignum," which denoted a dull, log colour, with
stains and flaws and an indistinctly patterned grain. Pliny says the
barbarous tribes buried the wood in the ground when green, giving it
first a coating of wax. When it came into the workmen's hands they put
it for a certain number of days under a heap of corn, by which it lost
weight. Sea water was supposed to harden it and act as a preservative,
and after bathing it, it was carefully polished by rubbing by hand. The
use of such valuable wood naturally led to the use of veneers, and the
practice was universal in costly furniture. The word "xilotarsia" was
used by the Romans to designate a kind of mosaic of wood used for
furniture decoration. Its etymology suggests that the Greeks were then
masters in the art. They divided works in tarsia into two
classes--"sectile," in which fragments of wood or other material were
inserted in a surface of wood, and "pictorial," in which the various
pieces of wood covered the ground entirely. The slices of wood,
"sectiles laminae," were laid down with glue, as in modern work. Wild and
cultivated olive, box, ebony (Cor