January 1, 1887.] 



♦ KNOW^LEDGE ♦ 



50 



THE NATURALIST'S LABORATORY. 



Contribution V. 



HE floors of houses are usually made in this 

 country of deal and other coniferous woods, 

 which ought to be well water-seasoned ; that 

 is, the timber, before it is sawn up into 

 planks, should be soaked in water until all 

 decayable and soluble matters are removed ; 

 pure lignin is thus left behind, and when 

 thoroughly and gradually dried aflbrds a material which will 

 not warp much upon the variations of temperature, nor 

 emit foul exhalations. But, from the chemical natiu-e of 

 wood in an unprotected condition, it is apt to imbibe 

 noxious gases, to store them, and to give them forth at 

 sundry times, but more especially when the moisture of 

 cleaning and swabbing is followed by an increase of tem- 

 perature for drying purposes. This pollution goes on very 

 gradually yet surely, and is a recognised fact amongst 

 sanitarians, whose work has been chiefly directed to the 

 construction of hospital wards, which require to be periodic- 

 ally renovated. With regard to ordinary dwelling-houses, 

 Prof. Dr. Jaeger says * : — " ^ly sister, resident in New 

 York, has told me that one of the best- known German 

 physicians in that city once remarked to her that no house 

 ought to be inhabited for more than SLsty years, but should 

 then be pulled down, as it is infected by all the diseases of 

 those who have ever dwelt there. He was right. Probably 

 ever}' reader has at some time or other, on entering an old 

 house full of woodwork, been struck by the unwholesome 

 smell. What is, then, to be done 1 My readers will 

 scarcely reconcile themselves to the radical remedy suggested 

 by the American physician, nor do I consider it necessary. 

 If all plain wood were to be thoroughly oiled or varnished, 

 I believe that old houses would no longer be haunted by 

 such evil spii-its." 



M. Boulton's process of timber preserving is briefly 

 summarised by J. A. Westwood-Oliver t as follows : — " He 

 aims at removing the watery moisture in the timber present 

 at the time of injecting coal-oil : while he accomplishes this 

 without the resort to the excessive heat usually employed 

 in drying timber, which he thinks cannot be heated beyond 

 230° F. with safety, as at a temperature much exceeding 

 250° F. the woody fibre begins to be decomposed, and the 

 pyroligneous acids are distilled from it, warping and brittle- 

 ness being also caused. His process is based on the differ- 

 ence between the boiling-point of water, 212° F., and the 

 distillation-heat of creosote, which ranges from 350° F. to 

 750° F. By the old process the timber was placed in a 

 cylinder from which the aii- and moisture were partially 

 withdrawn by an air pump, and creosote heated to about 

 120° F. was introduced ; the action of the pump was then 

 discontinued, and pressure pumps employed to force the 

 creosote into the wood. M. Boulton introduces the creosote 

 at a haat slightly exceeding 212° F., and continues the 

 action .of the aii'-pump, thus drawing off' the watery vapour, 

 while the creosote is not vaporised. By this means wet wood 

 can be introduced into the cylinder. The logs float on the 

 creosote, which is heated as in a still, and the watery vapour 



* This passage is quoted from a little volume entitled " Selections 

 from Essays on Health-Culture, and the Sanitar)- Woollen System," 

 by Dr. Gustav Jaeger, M.D., Stuttgart, p. 120. It has been ably 

 translated and edited by L. Tomalin. The work is published by 

 " Jaeger's Sanitarj- WooUen System Co., Limited," of 42 and 43 

 Fore Street, London, E.G., for one shilling. It ought to be carefully 

 read, and should tind a place in the library or bookshelf of everj- 

 householder who values good health adequately. 



t The lUmtrated Science Monthly, London, October 1885, vol. iv., 

 p. 29, et teqxientei. 



passes through a condensing worm. W^ood has been exhibited 

 thoroughly good after thirty years' use. Fences and posts 

 erected in 1855 and beech sleepers creosoted in 1856, with 

 nineteen or twenty years' wear, are perfectly sound." 



But timber prepared after this fa.shion is not even sparingly 

 used for biuldings as yet, so that it behoves the householder 

 to turn his attention to ready expedients, and to convert 

 existing defective floors into sound and sanitary structures. 

 The upper floors of even some of the best mansions are 

 made of very imperfectly matched planks, so that large 

 interspaces permit of the entry of dust and dirt of the worst 

 description, there to fester upon the slightest favoumble 

 occasion and pollute the dwelling. " Carefully covered 

 floors, preferably lined with parquet, add to health ; the 

 flooring is preserved, it is cleanly, it is artistic. I may here 

 mention an incident which was related to me by Mr. 

 Howard, of the eminent firm of Messrs. Howard ife Sons, 

 Berners Street, Oxford Street, London, W. When ^Messrs. 

 Howard were laying the floors of Westminster Hospital, 

 they were first of all obliged to pull up the flooring in order 

 to match the boards ; they thus discovered over each joist 

 little conical mounds of dust — the accumulated filth of many 

 years. I have no doubt but that to these pigmy heaps is to be 

 attributed much of the permanent contamination of fever and 

 other wards where the cause of illness is due to specific germs, 

 which find their way into these collections ; and the septic dust 

 thus established is kept under favourable conditions of warmth 

 and moisture every time that the floors are washed and 

 dried.'' * Although parquet flooring is necessarily expensive 

 at first, it embraces many advantages of the greatest im- 

 portance to the cleanly maintenance of the laboratory. The 

 benefits to be derived from its adoption may be briefly 

 summarised as follows : — (1) Freedom from accumulations of 

 dust ; (2) the ease with which it can be cleansed; (3) when 

 washed with a wet cloth it does not absorb water ; (4) it is 

 beautiful and durable. But where the question of outlay 

 interferes with the employment of parqueterie, the floor- 

 boards ought to be accurately matched, or existing inter- 

 spaces should be carefully caulked, as on the deck of a ship, 

 not necessarily, however, with oakum and pitch, but with 

 such inexpensive materials as are always at hand. Old 

 newspapers boiled down in starch paste, with a small pro- 

 portion of glue and a little corrosive sublimate, serve 

 admirably. It may be applied in a plastic condition with 

 an ordinary putty-knife ; when dry, it does not shrink, but 

 forms a hard, horny-textured substance. The floor thus 

 prepared may be painted, bees-waxed, or covered with 

 preservative material, and if desired, additionally provided 

 with oil-cloth or linoleum. Carpets and rugs, as dust- 

 harbourers, should never be used. 



To polish the floor with bees'-wax the following formula 

 may be adopted with success : — " To prepare wax for polish- 

 ing floors, 124 poimds of yellow wax, rasped, are stirred into 

 a hot solution of 6 pounds of good pearl-ash in rain-water. 

 Keeping the mixture well stirred while boiling, it is first 

 quiet, but soon commences to froth ; and, when the effer- 

 vescence ceases, heat is stopped, and there are added to the 

 mixture, while stin-ing, G pounds of dry yellow ochre. It 

 may then be poured into tin cans or boxes, and hardens on 

 cooling. When wanted for use, a pound of it is diffused in 

 five pints of boiling hot water, and the mixture, well stirred, 

 is applied while still hot to the fioor by means of a paint- 

 brush. It dries in a few hours, after which the floor is to 

 be polished with a large floor-brush, and afterwards wiped 



* " On Health in the House." A paper read at the Conference 

 of the Society of Architects' Exhibition, London, March 5, 1885. 

 By J. Ernest Ady, Vide Building Kem, London, March 6, 188.i 

 vol. xMii.,p. .16l". 



