FARMERS' REGISTER— PRESERVATION OF TIMBER. 



821 



the practical man's attention to a few facts in rela- 

 tion to Mr. Kyan's discoveries, as detailed in a 

 lecture delivered by Professor Faraday, at the 

 Royal Institution, London, in Feb., 1833. 



Corrosive sublimate had long been known to 

 possess an anti- destructive property; and a gentle- 

 man, reflecting on this jiropert}-, proposed to apply 

 it to timber for the prevention of dry-rot — that is, 

 ea.ses of decay whether arising from one ciuise or 

 another, and no matter how shown. Mr. Kyan's 

 conviction of its eiRcacy became such, that he laid 

 the subject before the Admiralty, who required 

 nothing less than the test of the "Fungus Pits" at 

 Woolwich, to prove the soundness of the applica- 

 tion. Submitted to this f)r two or three years, the 

 Admiralty advised Mr. Kyan to take out a patent, 

 and are still engaged in watching the progress and 

 results of" the severest trials which have been sug- 

 gested since that time. A solution of corrosive 

 sublimate is made, and the timber or other sub- 

 stance to be preserved is saturated with the solu- 

 tion—this being done, it is dried, and said to be 

 prepared. 



This lecturer then said that, "besides the appli- 

 cation of corrosive sublimate to timber, it has been 

 applied to various fabrics not composed of wood, as 

 for instance, canvass, cotton, tows, and hemp, to 

 prevent their decay. Before him were some of 

 the pieces submitted to trial by order of the Admi- 

 ralty three years ago in the "Fungus Pits" at 

 Woolwich, Avhich he (Prof Faraday) went the 

 other day to see opened. ******* 

 One specimen was a piece of timber which came 

 out at the end of three years as sound as it went 

 in! but the unprepared timber had decayed up to 

 the very joints. No part of it had been left. It 

 had decayed and become rotten throughout, but 

 tlie piece before them was left whole and sound, 

 and fit for the construction of vessels. Last week 

 he saw a large cube of wood which had been 

 there first for three years; it was taken out and 

 examined, and put in for two years more, alto- 

 gether making five years. That cube of wood 

 was again taken and examined by him on Tues- 

 day (the 19th Feb.;) it was pertectl}^ hard and 

 sound. There was no sign of decay in that wood 

 which had been submitted to the rotting action for 

 five years, nor of that destruction Avhich seems to 

 have come on so soon in the same pit with other 

 piexeis of wood." 



The Professor also stated that 



had some prepared, and unprepared posts, placed 

 in the most destructive situation, exposed to the 

 same actions. After a certain time, the unprepared 

 posts decayed, the others still stand preserved by 

 the power of the solution. 



E.Kperiments made on cotton and canvass gave 

 thesame results; speaking of prepared 'and unpre- 

 pared calico, Prof Faraday remarked, "one was 

 as it went in, but the other was the calico corres- 

 ponding to it which had rotted and decayed. It 

 was not possible to unfold whhout destroying it, 

 yet it had been similarly exposed as the other." 



This able and investigating chemist then con- 

 fesses himself "perfectly satisfied of the preserva- 

 tive effects of corrosive sublimate," but still he had 

 some distrust as to its ajiplication, lest the effect 

 might be merely temporary, and that after a certain 

 time fermentation might again be brought on and 

 decay ensue. But from these doubts he was re- 

 lieved by a course of experiments that satisfied 



him — for he found that a chemical combination 

 took place between the corrosive sublimate and 

 the body to be jireserved, and that it prevents the 

 destructive power going on, by" combining and 

 forming a new chemical compound with the albu- 

 minous matter of the wood. "He had before him 

 byway of illustration, a solution of corrosive sub- 

 limate, which would prove that the juices, or rather 

 substances, remaining from thejuices, in the fibres 

 of the plant, were easy of combination; and if a 

 stem or branch of a tree were cut, the branch al- 

 lowed to bleed and the sap made to flow into a so- 

 luMon of the corrosive sublimate, combination did 

 take place. 



Professor Faraday found that no part of the 

 properties of the corrosive sublimate were subdu- 

 ed, and in fact the substance was not in that state 

 in which it could be volatilized, or removed at or- 

 dinary temperatures. Calico was washed repeat- 

 edly and tlioioughly in water, for he considered if 

 the properties of the application would resist the 

 efl'ects of water in calico, it assuredly would do so 

 in timber. The prepared piece of calico, with an 

 unprepared piece, thus washed, were laid on a 

 board and placed in the cellar, and in due time 

 were examined, when it was found that the latter 

 was covered witli a coat of fungus nearly half an 

 inch thick, and the prepared calico was quite free 

 from it." Afterwards, the mercury loas separated 

 by nitric acid, showing that it liad been in combi- 

 nation. This able investigator then adds, "I think 

 the improvement so great as fully to justify its ex- 

 tensive application." 



This is a subject, it seems to me, of great gene- 

 ral interest, not only to the fiirnier, but to every 

 individual, and of great importance to all those 

 who work in Avood, not only as a security against 

 deca)', but as the most perlect mode of seasoning 

 timber for the use of cabinet makers, carpenters, 

 and others, in as much as mahogany and the most 

 compa,ct woods may be seasoned with the greatest 

 certainty and jjerfection in the short space of two 

 months! It is also an efi'ectual protection against 

 the destructive ravages of insects of every descrip- 

 tion. But, sir, to return to the more immediate 

 interest of the farmer in these experiments, it will, 

 if the application of so sim])le a preparation should 

 prove permanently protective, give a usefulness 

 and value to timber that is now only used in our 

 stoves and fire places, making it applicable to all 

 the purposes of building, and a sufficient substitute 

 for the more expensive kinds in the form of posts, 

 rails, fences, gates, hop poles, felloes, spokes, 

 shafts, &c. &c. &c. It will also give durability to 

 our cart covers, rick cloths, bags, &c. &c.; and is 

 an easy defence against moths in carriage linings 

 and other woolen articles, Avhere it can be safely 

 used, for it is a poison. 



In the several publications sent me on the sub- 

 ject, I no where fcuind the required strength of the 

 solution, which I have since ascertained to be one 

 pound of corrosive sublimate to five gallons of 

 water. Of tiiis a pine board wdl take up its quan- 

 tum in forty-eight hours, in the proportion of about 

 five ounces of the solution to every 216 cubical 

 inches — tlius to jirepare a post six inches square, 

 that was to be set in the ground two feet six inches, 

 there would be a consumption of about twenty-five 

 to thirty ounces of the solution. 



I would suggest sinking a vat or tank in the 

 ground, Avell set in clay, and made of plank about 



