306 REMARKS ON THE DRY ROT. 



jaw, or go mad from the bite of a rabid animal, Mr. 

 Waterton would be prepared to perform the oper- 

 ation in person, provided the attending medical 

 gentlemen declare that they have it not in their 

 power to administer relief, and that they consider 

 the case of the patient to be utterly hopeless. 

 Under these conditions, Mr. Waterton could do 

 the needful with a steady hand ; and should his 

 attempt to save the life of a human being prove 

 ineffectual, he would not feel daunted were he 

 called upon to take his trial at York for a cool and 

 deliberate act of Manslaughter, 



A SHORT REMARK OR TWO ON WHAT IS 

 COMMONLY CALLED DRY ROT. 



Dry Rot is a misnomer. This disease in timber 

 ought to be designated, a decomposition of wood 

 by its own internal juices, which have become 

 vitiated for want of a free circulation of air. 



If you rear a piece of timber, newly cut down, 

 in an upright position in the open air, it will last 

 for ages. Put another piece of the same tree into 

 a ship, or into a house, where there is no access to 

 the fresh air, and ere long it will be decomposed. 



But, should you have painted the piece of wood 

 which you placed in an upright position, it will not 

 last long ; because, the paint having stopped up its 

 pores, the incarcerated juices have become vitiated, 

 and have caused the wood to rot. Nine times 



