ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, V. IX. 6–8
Fire-sticks are made[1] from many kinds of wood, but best, according to Menestor,[2] from ivy[3]: for that flares up most quickly and freely. They say also that a very good fire-stick[4] is made of the wood which some call traveller's joy; this is a tree like the vine or the 'wild vine,' which, like these, climbs up trees. The stationary piece[5] should be made of one of these, the drill of bay; for the active and passive parts of the apparatus should not be of the same wood, but different in their natural properties to start with, one being of active, the other of passive character. Nevertheless they are sometimes made of the same wood, and some suppose that it makes no difference. They are made in fact of buckthorn kermes-oak lime and almost any wood except olive; which seems surprising, as olive-wood is rather hard and oily; however it is plainly its moisture which makes it less suitable for kindling. The wood of the buckthorn is also good, and it makes a satisfactory stationary piece; for, besides being dry and free from sap it is necessary that this should also be of rather open texture, that the friction may be effectual; while the drill should be one which gets little worn by use. And that is why one made of bay is best; for, as it is not worn by use, it is effective through its biting quality. All fire-sticks take fire quicker and better in a north than in a south wind, and better in an exposed spot than in one which is shut in.
Some woods, such as prickly cedar, exude[6] moisture, and, generally speaking, so do those
