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Il.—Wotice of the Occurrence of Limnoria terebrans at the mouth 
of the Tyne. By Aupany Hancock, Esq. 
[Read September 11, 1846.] 
Four or five weeks ago, whilst rambling along the coast at the 
mouth of the river, I stumbled on the remains of a few sal- 
mon-net stakes, not far from Clifford’s fort. On examining 
these stakes, which were near low water mark, I found that 
they were reduced to less than half their original diameter, 
by the ravages of a small crustaceous animal, which had pene- 
trated the wood in every direction, and that I had really got hold 
of the formidable Limnoria terebrans—the dread of the maritime 
engineer. 
The attention of naturalists was first drawn to this destructive 
little animal by Mr. Robert Stevenson, of Edinburgh, Civil En- 
gineer, who discovered it whilst erecting the Bell-Rock lighthouse. 
It had attacked the beams supporting the temporary wooden bea- 
con, and had done much injury. Specimens of the wood, con- 
taining the animal, were forwarded to Dr. Leach, who named it 
as above. Since then it has been found in various ports in 
England, Scotland, and Ireland: it has also been observed on 
the coasts of France and the Netherlands, and more recently has 
been detected in America. 
The ravages of the Zimnoria are of the most alarming nature : 
it attacks equally all kinds of wood, except teak ; and in the 
course of three years it has been known to reduce logs of Nor- 
wegian pine ten inches square to seven inches, that 1s, at the rate 
ofan inch in the year. No effectual preventive, I believe, has yet 
been discovered. Sheathing with copper and driving broad- 
headed nails all over the surface of the wood are the most suc- 
cessful modes adopted by engineers: painting and tarring have 
also been resorted to with variable results ; but any covering of 
this kind is so liable to be abraded that it cannot be relied on, 
even supposing that it affords complete protection when first 
applied. 
