Dry Rot in Timber. 5S 



All this has been changed. The sweating is gone, the walls are 

 free of roughness and blisters, and take a uniform tone of colour, 

 and the atmosphere, although the means of ventilation are 

 deficient, is healthy. 



Annan Parish Church. 



Having been called in to advise regarding the ventilation of 

 this church, on entering the porch I was made aware by the 

 pungent smell that dry rot had obtained a hold, and tapping the 

 wall lining, the reddish brown spores fell thick on the pavement. 

 Entering the church, little specks of white fungus were observed 

 protruding at the joints of the flooring, although the boards were 

 tongued and grooved together, and quite close in the joints. 

 The atmosphere of the church and the evil smell were unbear- 

 able beyond anything I ha\e experienced. On part of the floor 

 being cut out, the whole area under it, so far as could be 

 observed through the opening, was covered, carpet-like, with a 

 growth of white fungus. A stem-like formation being got hold 

 of and drawn out, it showed a length of 9 feet, a thickness at the 

 lower end of f inch, and tapered upwards to the thickness of a 

 twig. It was furnished with several thin branches, spreading 

 right and left, about 3 feet in length, and between these and the 

 main stem a white semi-transparent fungus, glistening with 

 globules of moisture, formed a complete and unbroken web. 

 The fungus here differs from anything I have elsewhere met 

 with. The extreme whiteness, the glistening with moisture 

 apparently self-distilled, and the unusually strong and disagree- 

 able odour it emits are, I think, peculiarities; and the thin, 

 tender, semi-transparent web, strengthened by the spreading 

 branch-like stems, presents an interesting formation. The 

 interior of this church had, as in the case of St. Michael's, Dum- 

 fries, been recently renovated. 



A Mansion-House. 



This house, almost wholly new, was erected under the 

 charge of a competent Edinburgh architect,, and the materials 

 and workmanship appeared to be excellent. A few years after 

 erection, howe\er, dry rot appeared, and ultimately resulted in 

 great damage to the structure. The house was occupied bv a 

 tenant, who complaineil to the agent of some defects in the 



