DRY ROT. 231 
cluding the history of the Tree. When an animal 
dies, a process of putrefaction begins, which ter- 
minates in reducing the entire frame to water, 
earth, and gas. ‘“‘ Dust thou art,” said the voice 
of the Lord God in the garden of Eden, “and 
unto dust shalt thou return.” Such likewise is 
the fate of every created thing in the vegetable 
world, from the grass that is cut down and 
withereth, to the tallest and greatest tree of the 
forest. To dust must all return. It is true that 
man cuts down wood, and prepares it for his own 
purposes, and by incorporating it into buildings, 
helps to preserve it from destruction for a certain 
time. This only defers the time of its being re- 
duced to dust, and unless the wood is chemically 
prepared, dust it will still certainly in the end be- 
come, By steeping the timber in some chemical 
solutions, such as solution of corrosive sublimate, 
which is the plan adopted by Mr. Kyan, in his 
celebrated method of preserving wood from 
decay, it is possible to keep it for a very long 
time without its rotting; how long, time must 
prove. 
The disease called Dry Rot is that which is 
most prone to attack the timber of our dwellings. 
