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10The Apennines begin from the Tyrrhene Sea, extending to the Alps on one side, and the borders of Tuscany on the other; and their summits spreading in the shape of a bow, almost touch the shores of the Adriatic in the centre of their range, which ends near the Straits of Sicily. The hither side of them towards Tuscany and Campania, is in point of climate extremely mild, being continually warmed by the sun’s rays. The further side, which lies towards the upper sea, is exposed to the north, and is enclosed by thick and gloomy shadow. The trees, therefore, which grow in that part being nourished by continual moisture, not only grow to a great size, but their fibres being too much saturated with it, swell out considerably. When hewn, therefore, and squared, and deprived of their natural vegetation, they change in drying the hardness of the grain, and become weak and apt to decay, on account of the openness of their pores. They are, therefore, of little durability in buildings.
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