TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. 



[chap. 



All the specimens that were kept dry, whether 

 carbonised or not, were apparently in good condition ; 

 but those which had been placed in manure or damp 

 earth were more or less in a state of decomposition, 

 the softer parts of the concentric layers being slightly 

 wasted away with rot on the surface. The difference 

 in strength between the carbonised and non-carbonised 

 pieces was not very great, but the tables show that 

 of the pieces kept dry, the loss of strength was greatest 

 by about 8 per cent, in the carbonised specimens ; and 

 of those kept in manure, the loss was about i}^ per 

 cent, in excess on the non-carbonised pieces. When 

 the experiment for testing the strength was completed, 

 the broken pieces of Nos. 4, S, 6, 7, 8, and 9 were again 

 placed in the box of manure. 



The weight of the specimens, taken on five occasions 

 in nine years, was as follows : — 



Table IV. 



Nos. II and 12 were left in the ground in 1863, 

 but No. II was missing in 1867. Nos. i, 2, 3, 10, and 

 12 were lost at the closing of the dockyard in 1869, 



