ON PREVENTING THE DECAY OF SHIPS. Ogp 



the inner surfaces of the planks, of which the shins are com- vent or cure 



posed ; and causing some slight deviations to be made in the p. '^ ^^ " 



modes practised in building them. I do not pretend to ori- surface of the 



ginality, when I recommend charring of timber, either to *'™^^^' 



jj^., ,-,., , ii> ••, not an original 



add to Its durabnity, or prevent the growth of parasitical i^^^^ 



plants ; for the experience of ages has proved the incorrup- 

 tibility of charcoal, whether buried in the earth, or exposed 

 to the action of air or water. The beams of the theatre of Proofs of its 



Herculaneum, which were reduced to this state by lava, ^^"'^j'.'"^^^"" 

 ' . denng timber 



were found, after a period of nearly eighteen centuries, to durable. 

 be perfect. The piles, supposed to have been driven into 

 the earth by order of Julius Cuesar, when he forded the 

 Thames at Cowey Stakes, near Shepperton, were charred, 

 and, when recently taken up, found in a complete state, 

 free from decay! Among many other instances, that may 

 be adduced, the practice, almost universally* adopted, of 

 burning the ends of posts to be put into the ground, to pre- 

 vent premature dissolution, may be added as an additional 

 proof of the efficacy of this recommendation ; and makes us 

 lament, that it has not been generally introduced in fabrics, 

 where so much timber, labour, and money, have been ex- 

 pended ; and the hopes and expectations of goTernment or 

 individuals frequently disappointed, by their rapid decay. 



There are several other advantages, that will be obtained Oliver ad van- 

 by tjurning the surfaces of timber. Rats, which are so. de- *^2^' ^°™ 

 structive to ships, will not touch charcoal ; nor will the 

 white ajit^i and cockroaches, so common in the Indies, com- 

 mit their depredations on substances so prepared. If far- 

 ther evidence of its utility, when employed only on a small 

 scale, be necessary, the durability of the Royal William, Instances of 



the flag ship at Spithead, which was built ia the year 1719, ^^^ "^'''7 °^ 

 . , . . ' its partial ap- 



and the planks onhj were burned on their inner surfaces, plication m 



would be sufficient to prove its efficacy when practised on "^^"i'^" 



* I am inclined to think, that the writer is mistaken here ; and that the 

 practice is very far from being even almost generally adopted. I remem- 

 ber a year or two ago speaking of it to a carpenter, -who was putting down 

 some posts j and he observed, that it would make them bst too long, aa 

 object they never had in view in parish work. He added, that they 

 sometimes charred the ends of posts, or more frequently dipped them irx 

 tar, for a piUate customer, *' if he particularly desired it". C. 



Vol. XXX.— Dec. 1811. U Vhips. 



