isi6.] 



Cure and Prevention of the Dry.rot. 



•21 



\t had also began to foini itself in the 

 floois of tlie story above, so rnncii so, 

 that a short time only would have been 

 necessary to have rendered the house 

 unsafe to its inhabitai\ts. On taking up 

 some of the boards of the floors, the gir- 

 ders and joists were found in a dpcaying 

 state, indeed, so much so, that tliey ex- 

 hibited an appearance resembling- a 

 common iiot-bed, excepting that this 

 Avas vegetatiuj'' fungi. This case shews, 

 to a demonstration, that, iiowevcr dry 

 and seasoned wood may be, when 

 moisture is supplied to it under favour- 

 able circumstances, a fermentation fol- 

 lows, and lastly fungi. 



The separations for this ease were 

 conducted under my own inmiediatc 

 direction ; and consisted, in the first 

 place, in removing such timbers only as 

 were radically decayed, and repairing 

 the others by piercing, &c. The gir- 

 dei s, for instance, were spliced, as it was 

 found tlieir ends only were eaten away ; 

 the floor-boards were but slightly afiV-et- 

 cd, to about a quarter of an inch in depth 

 on their inider surface; these were well 

 cleaned and bleached in the air, and af- 

 terwards prepared anew by the Ibllow- 

 ing recipe. 



This repair and cnre was made seven 

 years since, and has completely suc- 

 ceeded. Although the dry-rot was ge- 

 neral in two of the stories of this large 

 villa, it has been effectually cured at the 

 expence of little more than a few weeks' 

 labour of two common carpenters. 



My method of curing the dry or fun- 

 gus rot consists, as a preliminary, in 

 carefully examining the place in which 

 it is, and the cause of it, to ascertain 

 •whether it has arisen from a natural de- 

 f(;ct in the sifnation of the Iioiise, or from 

 a stinuilus which may have been given 

 to the wooden-work by accident. In 

 the former ease a more comprehensive 

 plan will be retjuired in eflectiiig a cure 

 than maj' be, jjerhaps, found necessary 

 for the latter. \A'hen these circum- 

 stances have been duly considered, my 

 next operation consists in removing the 

 decayed wood, and selecting out such 

 only as may not be found too much so 

 to l>e repaired, and again replaced. 

 After M'hicli I proceed in the prepara- 

 tion. The timbers of a building, such, 

 for instance, as the joists, plates, gir- 

 ders, ioc. may be charred or oxydated 

 by the common o)ieratioii of burning 

 their surfac.es ; to facilitate which, wash- 

 ing llieni slightly witii nitre in solution, 

 will be foniKl very much to promote: straw, 

 or liLuviiige oiUeul wood; wiU answer tiic 

 2 



purpose, and it is only necessary in doing 

 them to equally diffuse the (ire, so that 

 the timber be cliarred all over its sur- 

 face in an equal degree. Care tniist 

 also be taken liiat the smaller kinds of 

 timber be not too much bin'uc d by the 

 fire, so as to destroy thiir required 

 strength, nhicli may be the case, by do- 

 ing it with too little attention. This 

 may be completely prevented by the 

 slightest care, and jiarticnlarly if the 

 wood has been |)reviously covered witii 

 a solution of nitre, as in this case the 

 fire will, on its first impulse, run over the 

 whole surface, and leave it siiflicientljr 

 bnrr.ed for the purpose. When the 

 charring is con]i)leti'd, the surface should 

 be brushed, to free it of the dust and 

 soot which it has collected in burning; 

 after which it is in a state to receive the 

 ])ainting. 'i"he composition for this 

 paint, if it may be so called, is prepared 

 as follows, viz.— to four poimds of sul- 

 phate of iron is added two gallons of boil- 

 ing water, stirring the crystals of iron 

 with a s|)atula, till they are com|)Ielely 

 dissolved in the water. After which I 

 put it in bottles, well cork it up, and in a 

 day or two it will be in a state for nse. 

 The painting is best done by a large flat 

 liog-hair brusli, pouring out a small 

 quantity Of the solution at a time info 

 some portable machine, and brushing it 

 over the charred surface of the wood. 

 Once covering is sufficient, and the only 

 care recjuired is In well and completely 

 spreadiiig it ail over t lie surfaces. The 

 expeitce is by no means considerable, 

 as it is ascertained tliat two gallons of 

 the solution will paint upwards of 250 

 feet superficial of surface, and the ex- 

 pence of four poimds of sulphate of iron 

 is one shilling and fourpence only ; and 

 a man, at all dextroiis with the brushy 

 niay cover the above quantity in two 

 hours; and hence the expence will not 

 amount to more than a IVaction per foot 

 superficial. When large quantities of 

 wood are intended to be i)aiiited witU 

 the solution, it may be desirable to pre- 

 pare it in a(lc(]ua(e (piaiitities ; this may 

 be done by ap[)orlibniiig the ingredient* 

 accordingly. 



In some future papers I proposo de- 

 tailing some other eases, with many dif- 

 U'leiit modes which 1 have employed, 

 to elicct the same desirable eiai of 

 curing this rot in buildings ; in some of 

 which it will be >ecii, that, where I 



tho 

 I 



could not succeed in oxvdati 

 wood by the method I 



iciein (!(\scr' 



have l:ad recourse to the mineral aeid? 

 hdvh as the isulplmric or Jiilric; and with 



Hie 



