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9Timber should be felled from the beginning of the Autumn up to that time when the west wind begins to blow; never in the Spring, because at that period the trees are as it were pregnant, and communicate their natural strength to the yearly leaves and fruits they shoot forth. Being empty and swelled out, they become, by their great porosity, useless and feeble, just as we see females after conception in indifferent health till the period of their bringing forth. Hence slaves about to be sold are not warranted sound if they be pregnant; for the foetus which goes on increasing in size within the body, derives nourishment from all the food which the parent consumes, and as the time of delivery approaches, the more unwell is the party by whom it is borne: as soon as the foetus is brought forth, that which was before allotted for the nourishment of another being, once more free by the separation of the foetus, returns to reinvigorate the body by the juices flowing to the large and empty vessels, and to enable it to regain its former natural strength and solidity.
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