MAY. 



249 



improvers, has been fatal to the beauty of many a dehghtful 

 spot in our own country. The native garniture of our own 

 fields, modified by the hand of man, as exemplified in certain 

 tracts to be seen in every old settlement, exceeds all which 

 the combined wealth and taste of Great Britain could rear in 

 the place of it. Vain are all attempts to improve the face of 

 nature by dressing her in ornaments borrowed from a foreign 

 clime. That taste which recommends a system of improve- 

 ments based upon any principle, save that of preserving the 

 whole indigenous growth of our fields and woods, is barba- 

 rous, and will ultimately be spurned with indignation, by 

 every true lover of beauty and of nature. 



§aual l^ctius. 



What Causes the Decay of Timber. — Some years ago a philosopher, 

 being acquainted with the fact that every species of fungus, which is the- 

 real source of the rot in timber, can vegetate only on substances which are» 

 soluble in water, made the following experiment with sawdust. He took a. 

 portion of sawdust from a heap, and divided it into two equal parts. One 

 heap was washed over and over again in water, till everything soluble was, 

 removed ; the other heap was undisturbed. Both having been dried, were 

 placed, side by side, in a damp, close vault, and allowed to remain, there 

 several weeks. They were at length taken out, and the following was the 

 result : That portion which was washed until nothing more could be car- 

 ried off by water, remained clean and bright as when it was carried into 

 the vault : the unwashed portion had become the prey of foul parasites, and 

 was completely imbedded in an offensive mass of mould. This experiment 

 proved the theory of the philosopher, and convinced him, that, if by any 

 means our timber of any sort could be deprived of all those matters con- 

 tained in it which are soluble in water, it could be kept any number of 

 years entirely free from rot. The Editor of the Gardeners' Chronicle sug-^ 

 gests the experiment of "forcing water by exhaustion through the pores of' 

 timber, until nothing is left to dissolve." There is reason to believe that 

 such an experiment would be impracticable, except in the case of thin 

 boards and laths, and in all cases very expensive. Some useful hints, 

 however, may be drawn from the sawdust experiment, which may ulti- 

 mately lead to some useful discovery. Any liquid which is chemically de- 

 structive of those substances that may be dissolved in water, and which at 

 the same time would produce no injury to the woody fibre, if injected into 

 the pores of timber, must necessarily act as a preservative. This is proba- 

 bly the principle of action of those substances already applied in this waj~ 

 to timber to prevent its decay. 



VOL. XXI. NO. v. 32 



