53 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in which, in one part or other of almost every log, you will not see the 

 beginning of this rot, either as reddish, discolored spots, which, when 

 scratched by the nail, show that the texture to some little depth has 

 been reduced to powder, or else the white fibers themselves may be 

 seen growing. If the cargo was shipped dry, and had a rapid passage, 

 the case is not so bad ; but when shipped wet, and the voyage has 

 been prolonged, white fibers will be seen growing over nearly every 

 part of the surface of every log, especially if they are of yellow pine, 

 red pine, and oak. 



When deal (pine planks) is shipped wet in Canada, it is also covered 

 with a network of white fibers on its arrival in England, and even when 

 shipped tolerably dry the fungus will be found upon some of the pieces. 

 When they have been floated down our rivers and shipped as soon as 

 they were taken from the water, at the end of the voyage they are 

 often so covered with this network of mycelial fibers that force is ne- 

 cessary to separate them, and they will grow together again in the 

 barges before being landed. If deals in this state are piled flatwise, 

 a whole pile will become deeply affected with rot in six months. In 

 some instances the rot penetrates to the depth of one eighth of an inch. 

 The decay may be arrested by sweeping the surface of each deal, and 

 repiling them upon their edges during dry weather. The ships which 

 carry this timber, though built of good, sound, well-seasoned oak, must 

 be carefully dealt with, or they will become affected. It is usual to 

 scrape their surface as soon as they are clear of the cargo, and some- 

 times the hold is washed with a desiccating fluid. The effects of dry- 

 rot upon European deals are very similar to those exhibited by Cana- 

 dian deals. Decay is more rapid in white deal than in yellow, for the 

 white deal absorbs more water than yellow deal. In the same way 

 yellow deal absorbs more water and decays faster than red deal. 



An example of the rapid decay of timber from dry-rot was given 

 by Sir Thomas Deane in 1849 before the Institution of Civil Engi- 

 neers in Ireland. It occurred in the Church of the Holy Trinity at 

 Cork. On opening the floors under the pews, a most extraordinary 

 appearance presented itself. There were flat fungi of immense size 

 and thickness, some so large as almost to occupy a space equal to the 

 size of a pew, and from one to three inches thick. In other places 

 fungi appeared growing with the ordinary dry-rot, some of an unusual 

 shape, in form like a convolvulus, with stems from a quarter to half 

 an inch in diameter. When first exposed the whole was of a beautiful 

 buff color, and emitted the usual smell of the dry-rot fungus. 



During a part of the time occupied in the repairs of the church 

 the weather was very rainy. The arches of the vaults having been 

 turned before the roof was slated, the rain-water saturated the partly 

 decayed oak beams. The flooring and joists, composed of fresh tim- 

 ber, were laid on the vaulting before it was dry, coming in contact at 

 the same time with the old oak timber, which was abundantly supplied 



