DURABILITY. 105 



?mall crustaceans, Linintirla tci'elntnx. Leach, and CJiclnrn tei'dn-an*,* Philippi. 

 bore into and gnaw the surface of all woods in sea-water. The mollusk. 

 Triwlo nat-tilix^ L. (Figs. 3H and 34). and other species of Teredo, are however 

 the most destructive pests of s nith European seaports. Teivdos attacked 

 wnod in the Eocene period (London Clay). 



Teredos live only in se,i-water and bore not only the sapwood. but also the 

 heart wood of all kinds of timber, except the .larrah + (Kiic(tlin>tnx iiKiri/intttd}. 

 Ships, the bottom of which arc not covered with copper, sutler greatly from 

 teredos. Wooden piles used in harbours, etc., may be protected by being 

 ted, but this is serviceable only when the wood is thoroughly saturated 

 with creosote ; as coniferous wood in: sote better than oakwood, when 



creosoted it is better than oakwood for use in dams and other harbour-works. 

 Attempts have been made to protect piles in sea-water by studding them with 

 broad-headed nails, but the little teredos f. .rcc their way into the wood between 

 the heads of the nails. In the years isi>7 and is.V.t, when the rainfall was very 

 slight and the Dutch canals near th- me very salt, it was found 



that all the piles supporting the dams along the Dutch const were bored by 

 teredos. A Commission was appointed in Holland, in is.V.i. to enquire into the 

 ciuses and possible remedies of this damage, and from its report, written by 

 v. Baumhauer and quoted in Uat/.eburg's Forstinsecfonkunde (by Judeich and 

 Nitsche, 188U), the above remarks have been taken. It is also stated by 

 Nanqiiette. $ that when timber is stored in sea-ports for ship-building and 

 harbour-works, it should be kept either in banks of mud. or in tanks in which 

 sufficient fresh-water is mixed with sea-water, so as to rrnd'-r it less saline than 

 is necessary f ( ,r the life of the 1.-rnl.s. Tr.] 



Numerous fungi, chiefly of Basidiomycetes, destroy wood. 

 This is principally because wood that lias been already 

 attacked by fungi, in the forest, is brought to the market in 

 a moist condition, or because air-dry wood is used in moist 

 places. The number of species of destructive fungi that 

 attack converted wood is much greater than those described 

 in books. Should one be obliged to live in a humid climate 

 or in damp houses not only the most destructive of house- 

 fungi, dry-rot (Mcriilinx Idrrumiits') appears, but also numerous 

 species of r<>I;i]tontx, Train*'!,'* ;md ('njiriimx appear, which 

 gradually destroy all the woodwork in a house. Most of these 

 fungi attack iirst the sapwood of converted timber and then 

 the heartwood ; some (Tramrt^a) live in the heartwood only. 

 Some fungi cause white rot, others red rot, the wood in both 

 becoming eventually a soft, crumbling, structureless 

 mass. li. Hartig has described the fungi destructive to wood 



* Vide Kat'/eburg's lt Forstinsectenkunde," by Judeich and Nitsehe, 18S!, 

 p. :',:',- ff. 



f Vide "Encyclopedia I'.rit." isss, vol. xxiii. p. 1S4. 

 I ' Laslett," <>/>. rit. }>. ">. 

 Kxploitatioii des Hois." 



