S06 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 
inelFectual, 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 la^t 
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, 
md have caused the wood to rot. Nine times^ 
