48 
the fungus mentioned, softens the thin- walled tracheitis first j then often 
larvrc, from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an iuch in length, bore 
through and through the softened cells, while the harder tissues are left 
undestroyed until the decay is farther advanced ; and thus what seems 
to be a sound tie from above, is but a series of shells. Sphwria pilifera 
(Fr.) grows in great abundance on the sap-wood of Yellow Pine, discol- 
oring the wood with its dark threads. The abundance of the pcrithecia* 
of this fungus on sawed lumber gives the surface a dark moldy ap- 
X)earance ; drying, however, checks the growth, but it is again set up 
as soon as moisture and warmth are present, and, if the timber be still 
unaffected, these same conditions will be favorable to fermentations and 
the consequent decomposition of the sap-wood. This is readily noticed 
in the floors of freight-cars, the sap-wood rotting in one or two years; 
thus it would seem advisable never to use sap-wood in situations where 
heat and moisture are liable to occur. 
Preservation. — Creosote and other antiseptics can be made to pene- 
trate the heart- wood only quite slowly, so that in mauy cases the result- 
ing treatment is rather superficial. A recent examination of several 
thousand cubic feet of timber of this wood, which had been creosoted, 
showed this to be the case, a superficial exterior protection only. In 
several places the fungus Trametes pini (Fr.) was growing on the wood 
as though it had not been treated, the mycelium having developed 
under the superficial coating. In this case the treatment was too short, 
resulting in a penetration only of one-eighth to three-sixteenths of an 
inch in depth. 1 have examined many ties treated with creosote, where 
the penetration was ample to protect them, showing that the treatment 
can be such as to thoroughly impregnate them, but it is a matter of time 
and pressure. I have also examined many of the so-called " vulcanized " 
ties, which, after three years of service, did not show any decay. It may 
be, however, that seasoning of the ties of this wood is, on the whole, 
a matter of first importance to insure longer life. 
Hemlock, Tsuga Canadensis, Carriere. ]STo. 387. 
This wood, once very abundant, and still covering a large tract of 
country, has been extensively used for ties, and will of necessity be sub- 
stituted for other w r oods which are now becoming scarce. Professor 
Sargent,! gives its distribution as follows : 
"Nova Scotia, Southern New Brunswick^ valley of the Saiiit Lawrence River to the 
shores of Lake Temi seaming, southwest to the western "border of Northern Wisconsin ; 
south through the Northern States to New Castle County, Delaware, Southeastern 
Michigan, Central Wisconsin, and along the Alleghany Mouutains to Clear Creek 
Falls, Winston County, Alabama (Mokr.)." 
The photomicrograph of the transverse section indicates that the 
wood is soft, though harder than that of the White Cedar. The zone 
of thick-walled tracheids in the outer portion usually forms from one- 
fifth to one fourth of the ring ; where the two classes of cells join in the 
* Beak -like protuberances containing spores. 
t ;< Forest Trees of North America," Vol. IX. of Tenth Census Report, 18S0, 
