?S16.] 3Ir. Randall on the Cause and Prevention of the Dry Rot. SQ I 



h-M\ of V. itnessiiig the complete growtU 

 of a fungus plant, aud wliich took place 

 ULder ike following circumstances. — Se- 



js said to be capable of improving upon 

 the plans of others, Bomethincf great may 

 1)0 expected. The reader can be at no 

 Joss to judge of wliat I would rccom- 

 jiiend as a pnblic msasme; kui hov/, en 

 these times of pecuniary dcpressioii, 

 funds could be raised in England fL.' 

 a similar institution I cannot tc"".!; !»ut 

 this I know, that one might be esta- 

 blished in this part of the kingdom, that 

 should be equal to the reception of al! 

 the new cases of insanity that would oc- 

 cur within forty miles of it, f^iving Its 

 very best chance of recovery, ant! keep- 

 ing all that did not secove;- for twc!ve 

 months, for a much less sum of mouey 

 than will be expended in tiic buildin^;: 

 alone of a County Asylum, now under 

 Land, at Slalibrd ; and vhich buildi«)g, 

 ■when finished, wilJ, as 1 firnily !)ciieve, 

 be the means of doing great injiiry lo 

 those afllictcd with mental disease, and 

 be the cause of an increase of incurable 

 lunacy in the county of Stafford; ^'id thi- 

 from the very injudicious choice of situa- 

 tion, the preposterous plan of the build- 

 ing, and the system to whicii it muat be 

 necessarily subjected. Institutiona for 

 the insane, I repeat, should not only be 

 calculated to do good exclusively, but 

 also to prove acceptable to the imagina- 

 tion, of all those who ai'e subject to ner- 

 vous irritation ; instead of which, this 

 mighty institution will always be cou- 

 templatcd as an object of the greatest 

 horror, and be felt as such; and, being 

 felt as such, it will be the occasion of 

 more permanent mental depression, 

 which is the very worst species of mental 

 disease, tiian all the skill, both medical 

 and moral, of its managers will ever be 

 able to counteract. As a place of con- 

 finement, for dangerous incurable luna- 

 tics, criminal Ituiatics, and dangerous 

 idiots, it may be proper and necessary ; 

 but it never can be proper or necessary 

 for the purposes of cure, which it is 

 Intended to monopolizi!. It is, indeed, 

 totally adverse in all its i)rincij)lcs to the 

 best means of cure, which simply consist 

 in constantly diverting the thoughts by 

 pleasurable sensations, and properly ex- 

 ercising the powers of the mind upon an 

 »mendcd constitution. 



Thomas Bakewell. 

 Sprhi(r-Vale,iiear Stone; 



Nov. 7, IKIG. 

 Ehuata.— Pa:c 100, for "individual" 

 Tcad ^^ undivided." 



To t/te Editor of the Monthlij Magazine. 



MIR, 



1WAS led to this enquiry concerning 

 dry-rot fuuji bj( aa ojppoituiiity J 



Yeral pieces of fir wood, forming a pile 

 of it, having been promiscuously thrown 

 logelher in a confined situation, and 

 leii so for a short time only ; on a part 

 having been accidentally removed while 

 I was pre.i^il, I perceived a while ijlm 

 of mould overspreading ail the wood the 

 n}ost enclosed. J. reqircsted and suc- 

 ceeded in prevcniing a further removal 

 of it, apparently approximating to a 

 Jateof dcconip<T.;ition, which eventually 

 proved to be the case ; for, in about ten 

 or twelve days afterwards, large fungus 

 plants had formed themselves, resem- 

 bling the mushroom, overspicading and 

 abooliug out long iibrous roots on all 

 the ^vood, on which I had previously 

 observed tlie mouldiness. There was 

 mroh apparent heat, and globules of 

 ^'^^atcr had formed upon the surfaces the 

 most e:iposcd. In the month of No- 

 vember, two years ago, these observa- 

 tions were made; I'arenheit's thermo- 

 meter in the shade being about 48°. 0« 

 placing a thermometer in the midst of 

 the wood, where the plant was growing 

 with most vigour, an<l leaving it thaie 

 till the following day, the mercury had 

 risen to 67*'. Nineteen hours only had 

 elapsed since the first placing it, and on 

 again examining it; so that it had risen 

 9" in nineteen hours. On remo^in^ 

 tlie thermometer, and placing it in the 

 external air, and examining it again on 

 the following morning, the mercurv ha 1 

 sun'i to 49° ; which, by examining other 

 thermometers in dift'erent jilaces, waa 

 found to bo the atmospheric tempera- 

 ture, at this time, in and about the en- 

 virons of London. 'I'hcse iiicts prove 

 that circumstances must occur to pro- 

 duce fermentation ; the lowest tempe- 

 rature in which that state can tak», 

 place is somewhere about 45* ; where 

 the plants were developing themselves 

 wilJi jnost strength, the temperature 

 was 57° ; so that between these two 

 teuiperaturcs seems to be the mean in 

 vvhieli fungus dry-rot dr vclopes iiselfl 

 Sink the temperature below 45*, or 

 raise it above 57°, no fungus plant can 

 vegetate, because the putrefactive fer- 

 mentation necessary to produce it will 

 not arise in tem|;eruUirvs below the 

 forniei-, or above the latter ; the one is 

 too cold to give the stimuli to the fer- 

 menting [Hinciple, the other evajioiates 

 them to dr3 ness. lience the free acce»s 

 of atmospheric air has Leon n.>:Hally 

 sought to pre\cnt dry-rot. But huursos 

 are built to live in, and it stldom hap. 



