202 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Antinonnine is a dinitro-cresylate of potassium, which has been 

 highly praised by some experimenters. It colours the wood a 

 strong yellow. Antigermine is a green mixture, which, like 

 antinonnine and lysol, is a derivative of creosote. Lysol is a 

 solution of cresylol in soap, and is completely soluble in water. 

 The hydrofluoric acid used was the ordinary commercial product. 

 The woods used for the purpose of experiment were silver fir 

 {Abies pectinata), Aleppo pine {Pinus halepensis), oak {Quercus 

 robui'), beech {Fagtis sy/vatica), poplar {Populus). Three speci- 

 mens were experimented with in each case. The specimens 

 were cut green, were dried first in the air, then in a stove, and 

 were then immersed in the solutions, the conditions being identi- 

 cal in all experiments. The immersion lasted for twenty-four 

 hours, and the solutions were heated over a water-bath to 140° F. 

 Although this uniformity of procedure was adopted to ensure a 

 fair trial, yet in point of fact there are great differences in the 

 rate of impregnation of different woods, and the time can in 

 many cases be much shortened. The author gives full details of 

 a series of subsidiary experiments having for their object the 

 determination of the rate of impregnation of different woods, but 

 for these reference must be made to the original pamphlet. 



After treatment with the antiseptics, the samples of timber were 

 placed under two sets of conditions. One set were exposed in the 

 open air in a garden where they were almost buried in leaf- 

 mould or manure, the free end being fully exposed to the influ- 

 ence of snow, rain, and sun. The other series were placed in the 

 galleries of the iron-mines of Lorraine. These galleries run at 

 about 33 feet below the surface, have a constant temperature of 

 5o°-54'' F., and are completely protected from rain and sun. 

 Though adequately ventilated, the air in them is only slowly 

 renewed, and all the conditions are thus favourable to the 

 development of wood-destroying fungi, notably dry-rot, which is 

 very prevalent. Some of the specimen cubes were in actual 

 contact with infected planks. The experiments lasted three 

 years, and seem to have been conducted with the greatest care. 



The method of immersion practised allowed both the varieties 

 of carbolineum to penetrate to the centre of the poplar, the beech, 

 and the fir, while in the case of the oak and Aleppo pine the 

 whole of the sap-wood was impregnated and parts of the hard- 

 wood. This shows that with this preservative it is not necessary 

 to have recourse to vapour or to impregnation under pressure. 

 The degree of impregnation is indicated by the brown colour 



