192 TIMBER AND SOME OF ITS DISEASES. [CHAP. 



Is there no medium which will act as an antiseptic, 

 and kill the mycelium in the timber in the earlier 

 stages of the disease ? The answer is, that mineral 

 poisons will at once kill the mycelium on contact, and 

 that creosote, &c.,will do the same ; but who will take 

 the trouble to thoroughly impregnate timber in 

 buildings such as harbour dry-rot ? And it is simply 

 useless to merely paint these specifics on the surface 

 of the timber : they soak in a little way, and kill the 

 mycelium on the outside, but that is all, and the 

 deadly rot goes on destroying the inner parts of the 

 timber just as surely. 



There is one practical suggestion in this connection, 

 however ; in cases where properly seasoned timber i< 

 used, the beams laid in the brick walls might have 

 their ends creosoted, and if thoroughly done thi< 

 would probably be efficacious during the dangeroi 

 period while the walls finished drying. I believe thi 

 idea has been carried out lately by Prof. Hartig, who 

 told me of it. The same observer was also kind 

 enough to show me some of his experiments with dry- 

 rot and antiseptics : he dug up and examined in my 

 presence glass jars containing each two pieces of 

 deal one piece sound, and the other diseased. The 

 sound pieces had been treated with various anti- 

 septics, and then tied face to face with the diseased 



