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whose sap is of an oily character; and this is why statues are sometimes said to 'sweat'; for they are made of such woods. That which seers call the menses of Eileithuia,'^[1] and for the appearance of which they make atonement,^[2] forms on the wood of the silver-fir when some moisture gathers on it: the formation is round^[3] in shape, and in size about as large as a pear, or a little larger or smaller. Olive-wood is more apt than other woods to produce shoots even when lying idle or made into manufactured articles; this it often does, if it obtains moisture and lies in a damp place; thus the socket of a door-'hinge'^[4] has been known to shoot, and also an oar which was standing in damp earth in an earthenware vessel.^[5]

1. cf. C.P. 5. 4. 4. οἱ μάντεις … ἐλατίνοις conj. Lobeck.; οἱ λεἲαν … τοῖς ἑκατίνοις U; οἰλείαν … τοὺς ἐκατίνοις V; οἱ λεῖαν τῆς εἰληθήας … τοῖς ἐκματίνοις M; οἱ λεῖαν τῆς ἀληθυίας ἔφἁιδρον … τοὺς ἑκατίνους P₂; ἰλεῖαν τῆς εἰληθυίας ἔφυδρον … τοὺς ἑκατίνους Ald.
2. i.e. as a portent. cf. Char. 16. 2.
3. στρόγγυλον conj. Sch.; στρογγύλης UMVP₂Ald.
4. cf. 5. 6. 4; Plin. 16. 230.
5. πλινθ. τεθ. κώπη ἐν πήλῳ conj. Spr.; πλίνθινον τεθεὶς τῇ κώπῃ πηλός P₂Ald. H.