THE PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT OF WOOD. 



I. THE VALIDITY OF CERTAIN THEORIES CONCERNING THE 

 PENETRATION OF GASES AND PRESERVATIVES INTO 

 SEASONED WOOD.* 



By Irving W. B.\ilEy, 



In the preservative treatment of wood the engineer and busi- 

 ness man are frequently confronted by results which cannot be 

 explained satisfactorily. It is reasonable to suppose that the 

 study of fundamental factors which control the penetration of 

 preservatives would assist materially in clearing away many of 

 these difficulties which at present confront the timber preserving 

 industry. Since wood is a highly specialized and complicated tis- 

 sue, one of whose functions in nature is to conduct aqueous 

 solutions from the roots to the crown, the anatomy and physi- 

 olog>^ of plants have a direct bearing upon the problem. 



In certain lines of research the theories and observations of 

 one investigator must be carefully checked by an independent 

 investigator before they are generally accepted as conclusive. 

 This practice might well be applied in all technical research which 

 has a direct economic significance to individuals who are unable 

 unassisted to test the accuracy of the investigations. It is the 

 object of the writer to analyze in the following pages certain 

 theories of Tiemann and Weiss, which if correct are of funda- 

 mental importance in the seasoning and impregnation of timber. 



Tiemann's hypothesis may best be summarized by extracts 

 from his paper in the bulletin of the American Railway Engineer- 

 ing and Maintenance of Way Association.! 



''In fresh green zvood of all species the cells of all kinds (ex- 

 cept the resin ducts and the vessels) are completely closed by the 

 continuous primary wall, and gases cannot be forced through this 

 enclosing membrane even at extreme pressures. Water may per- 



*Contributions from Laboratory of Wood Technology of the Harvard 

 School of Forestry. No. i. 



fTiemann, H. D. The physical structure of wood in relation to its pen- 

 etrability by preservative fluids. Bulletin 120. American Railway Engi- 

 neering and Maintenance of Way Association. 



