2l8 MATERIAL FOR FUMIGATION. 



hour or two, the evening before they are to 

 be ufed, to expel from them the dampnefs 

 their fponginefs makes them liable to ; 

 which would render them unfit for burn- 

 ing freely. Age likewife has the fame ef- 

 fect, bereaving them in part of their ftupe- 

 fying power. Puffs found in autumn in 

 woods, or under hedges, being dried by a 

 moderate fire, though not fo good, may do 

 for want of better. Puffs kept longer than 

 the fecond year, retain little virtue. 



Thofe puffs which in a dry feafon have 

 become mature, light, and dry, burn the 

 heft of any. The lighter and more fpongy 

 the puffs are, the readier they burn. Thofe 

 that are gathered in, or foon after, wet wea- 

 ther will be very tardy in burning, being 

 deprived in a great meafure of their virtue, 

 however dried afterwards ; as will thofe that 

 have been dried, but fullered to get wet 

 again, but which redrying will not re- 

 ftore. 



When a wet feafon, or any other caufe, 



has hindered the acquifition of puffs of a 



good quality, they fhould be fteeped in a 



folution of nitre (fait petre) in water, viz. a 



