oct. — dec. 1857.] Mode of protecting Timber from Fire. 1&7 



ed with wet, the coating on the wood was not in the slightest de- 

 gree injured, and could be removed, by knocking the wood, only in 

 one or two places in the roof, where the surface of the boards was 

 very rough, and the coating consequently less perfect. 



Experiment 1. 



A fire of wood, charcoal, and coke was kindled in a tall iron stove 

 provided with numerous large openings in the sides, so as to adimit 

 of a great escape of heat in the neighbourhood of the boards. 



" Immediately on the ignition of the naphtha, the wood was sur- 

 rounded by flames, which soon fired the unprepared pieces, whilst 

 those coated with the silicate only ignited after a time at the edge, 

 and were scorched or baked by the heat, but not burned. 



" A wooden hut, similar in construction to those at Aldershot, 

 having been erected in Woolwich Marshes, for the purpose of 

 testing the value of Phillips's Fire Annihilator, advantage was tak- 

 en of the opportunity thus offered for trying,to some extent, upon 

 a larger scale, the merits of the silicate as a protective. 



" Shortly before the experiment took place, an application was 

 made to me, by the officers of Royal Engineers, for the preparation, 

 in some way, of a portion of the building with a protective agent. 



" One part was painted, inside and out, with a mixture of lime 

 and alum, which, however, was not found upon experiment to act 

 as an efficient protective against fire. 



" Another part of the hut was painted, inside and out, three 

 times, with a solution of silicate of soda. 



" Unfortunately for the fairness of the experiment, the building 

 was constructed with a double boarding, so that it was only possi- 

 ble to coat or impregnate the planks, on one side. Nevertheless, the 

 value of this agent was established beyond doubt. 



" A large heap of shavings was lighted in the interior of the hut, 

 against the coated portion of the wall. The flames played fiercely 

 upon the latter for some minutes, but only succeeded in kindling 

 one edge of a plank, and that portion did not blaze, but smoulder- 

 ed for a short time. 



