326 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



not worth cutting down. Tn some respects they were similar to 

 our English poplar, and like it grew very quickly. This class of 

 timber was especially amenable to the process he had described, 

 and the results were somewhat astounding. Poplar absorbed 

 over two and a half times its own weight of the solution, and 

 when thoroughly dried was 75 per cent, heavier than its natural 

 state. If this could be effected with our English poplar, there 

 was every reason to believe the same results might be obtained 

 with the soft-woods of America and other countries, and so a 

 fresh source of supply of timber most suitable for railway 

 sleepers, paving blocks, planks for piers, stations, etc., might be 

 opened up. Everyone was aware of the power of wood pavements 

 to emit stifling effluvia, especially on a hot, close, summer night. 

 The excreta absorbed by the block, and thus evaporated, made it 

 a perpetiial source, not only of discomfort, but possibly of ill- 

 health. If the good qualities of soft-wood could be retained, 

 while making it not only harder and tougher, but above all less 

 absorbent, then one of the great difficulties of the municipal 

 engineer would have been solved. While the weight of pine was 

 not much increased by the process, its effects on the strength of 

 the wood were remarkable. Experiment showed that the tensile 

 strength of pitch pine was increased from 14 to 32 per cent., of 

 white pine from 29 to 39 per cent., and of yellow pine from 56 to 

 1 07 per cent. Tests as to the effect of the process on the flammability 

 of wood, especially of such wood as the pines, showed that it was 

 to make the wood less inflammable, by reason of its greater 

 compactness and solidity. Beech came next to poplar in its 

 greediness for syrup, and its weight was increased by treatment 

 by about 50 per cent. It became a very firm, tough timber, 

 nearly as tough as oak or teak, without having their brittleness. 

 As to the cost of the process, sugar was a very cheap raw 

 material, being only about the same price, weight for weight, as 

 the lower-priced woods, and if the by-products of sugar manufac- 

 ture were used, the cost would be almost nominal. The amount 

 of labour involved in the jjrocess is comparatively small, and the 

 plant was simple. — 7'Ae Times. 



Prevention of Sparks from Railway Engines. 



The Glasgow Railway Engineering Co., Limited, write: — 

 The Drummond's Patent Fuel Economiser and Spark Preventer 



