340 TRAySACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH AEBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



"That it is desirable to establish a School of Forestry for the 

 whole of Wales and Monmouthshire." 



It is understood that another conference will be held soon to 

 carry on the movement. 



On the Principal Advantages of using Chloride of Barium 

 FOR THE Impregnation of Railway^ Sleepers, and for 

 THE Preservation of Wood in general.^ 



A well-known Belgian engineer, M. Flamache, has conceived 

 the idea of using chloride of barium, which has the advantage of 

 being a cheap substance. The salt is very soluble, and can be 

 easily injected into wood of all kinds. In combination with 

 putrescent products, it forms an insoluble precipitate which 

 etiectively resists fermentation. 



Moreover, chloride of barium possesses a property which renders 

 it especially valuable in the preparation of building timber to be 

 used in hot countries, in that it is poisonous to insects and 

 gnawing animals, which will not touch wood impregnated with it. 



Chloride of barium is not poisonous to man in doses less than 

 i^ to I an ounce, and it passes out of the system in a very short 

 time. It is, therefore, not dangerous to use. It is not absorbed 

 through the skin. The use of chloride of barium may be strongly 

 recommended for the preservation of railway sleepers in temperate 

 climates, as well as for all species of wood used in tropical 

 countries. The ravages committed by white ants, which render 

 wood useless in regions where it grows most abundantly, are 

 entirely prevented by the use of chloride of barium. All gnawing 

 insects are kept off by it, and this is a great advantage in the case 

 of sawyers' timber or shipbuilding timber, which is liable to be 

 attacked by various parasites. The small durability of pit-wood 

 is due to vegetable parasites, which cannot live on wood impreg- 

 nated with this salt. 



To sum up, soluble salts of barium offers, at a price much 

 below that of any other impregnating substance, special advantages 

 commending its use in all countries, and especially as a protection 

 against insects and gnawing animals. It combines economy and 

 efficacy, particularly in hot countries. 



^ E.xtract from Le Bois, published at Liege, 26th Xovember 1903. 



