286 DRY ROT. 



flowing blood " a wound," or the worms that con- 

 sume the body " death." Why come the fungi there 1 

 There was a time when dry rot was unknown ; and 

 as long as the beams of houses were of good oak, or 

 chestnut, or red pine from the north of Europe, there 

 was no information laid against serpula. Besides, 

 there never appeared a single fungus of any species 

 upon or near the piece of oak in the experiment, and 

 yet it passed from what may be regarded as the best 

 state that it could be in for duration, to absolute 

 uselessness, in so short a time, that if a ship were 

 to decay as fast, the whole freight that could be ob- 

 tained would not pay for the treenails. How is the 

 same dry rot to be got rid of? " Oh, wash the tim- 

 bers with sulphate of iron, and other saline solu- 

 tions, and let the ship, or the house, as it may be, 

 be well ventilated." The old story. " Call in the 

 doctor, apply a lotion, and exhibit a bolus," under 

 which the diseased have continued to die ever since 

 medicine was a science. Are ships kept less clean 

 now than they were before the dry rot was heard 

 of? or are they or houses worse ventilated ? Truly 

 not. If there be any difference, the ships must be 

 kept sweeter, else the chlorides, and other powerful 

 fumigations, have been invented and applied to little 

 purpose. The crews certainly keep their health bet- 

 ter than they did formerly ; and it would be some- 

 what wonderful, if air which were more wholesome 

 for human beings should be more deadly for oak 

 timber ! As for the houses again, there are certainly 

 more under-ground apartments than there were onet 

 and possibly more than it is wise to have. It ma] 

 happen, too, that the tax upon windows has impaii 

 the ventilation by those apertures ; but in many of 

 the modern houses, and those especially where the 

 rot appears, the loss of ventilation by windows has 

 been more than made up in ventilation by walls, 

 many of which are so thin, and of materials so in- 



