SAP-STAIlSr, MOLD, AND DECAY IN GEEEN WOOD. 41 



Both cold and hot sokitions of creosote may cause considerable 

 irritation, and in some cases blistering, when brought in contact with 

 the skin. By proper use of the tongs, however, this trouble was 

 avoided. Rubber gloves were worn during the dipping of spokes 

 in the solutions of mercuric chloricl, since that salt, as already 

 stated, is a deadly poison when taken internally and is sometimes 

 absorbed through the skin when solutions are handled continuously. 



Many metals, such as iron and zinc, possess the common property 

 of precipitating metallic mercury from the solutions of its salts. 

 For this reason the iron tongs and other metallic objects could not 

 be used in connection with the mercuric-chloricl dip. 



The spokes that were treated with salt or lime were placed, a few 

 at a time, in wooden boxes containing the respective substances in a 

 finely powdered state and were rolled to distribute the chemicals 

 over them as evenly as possible. The excess was shaken off. They 

 were then close piled in one section of the warehouse. After 24 

 hours the lime coating showed a marked tendency to absorb moisture 

 and cake. Moreover, it turned the wood dark. For this reason the 

 liming was discontinued after 300 spokes had been treated. The 

 salted spokes soon became exceedingly moist, due to the hygroscopic 

 nature of the salt. The antiseptics used and the number of spokes 

 treated in the different lots follow: 



(a) 10 per cent creosote in kerosene, colcl__ 5, 100 



(6) 10 per cent creosote in kerosene, hot 5,100 



(c) 5 per cent borax in water 1,013 



(d) 1 per cent mercuric chlorid plus 1 per cent hydro- 



chloric acid 1,000 



(e) Dry salt 1,032 



if) Dry quicklime 300 



The first lot went forward in a box car loaded to capacity with 

 5,000 cold-creosoted spokes, 5,000 that had been hot creosoted, 800 

 spokes that had been dipped in mercuric chlorid, and 350 that were 

 untreated. It was originally intended to ship the other lots at the 

 same time. The car, however, was found to be too small, so the 

 borax-treated, salted, and limed spokes went forward at a later date. 



Many of the cold-creosoted spokes that had lain in the shed for 

 two to three weeks awaiting shipment were slightly molded. It was 

 noticed that those with the mold were taken from that part of the 

 pile that had suffered most from poor ventilation, namely, near the 

 bottom and in the rear. The spokes in the other lots at that time 

 seemed to be free from mold or sap-stain. 



METHOD OF LOADING CAR NO. 1. 



The spokes were stacked in transverse ricks, beginning at the end 

 of the car and working toward the doorway. Each rick was built 

 up in the following manner. A row consisting of five pairs of spokes 



