54 
SHIP TIMBER, 
Jn elucidation of the facts already stated , the following comparative view is given : 
Per Cubit Foot. 
SPECIFIC GRAVITY. I PROPORTIONATE STRENGTH. 
Season. 
f p Sylvestris . 
o < Do l0 ° y ears ? 
Uak ) in use S 
hUrbana.... .. .. 
«r, wa » . . $ Red 
Growth. ^ i White 
Chesnut (sweet), 100 ) 
years in use $ 
Maple (Norway) 
[Larch (Scotch) 
™ . < Malabart 
, T,ak ? Java 
jSissoo of Bengal 
(Saul of ditto 
< Mahogany (Spanish)... 
Lance wood 
r 0 .r <Red 
American ] ak } White 
Canada, j Pine (pitch)... 
j Fir. 
British 
British 
India. 
West 
Indies. 
lb. oz 
54 15 
47 4 
50 12 
42 13 
54 13 
49 11 
31 0 
Prepared 
Single. Double 
Foreign. 
j Teak (of Pegu). 
J Oak (Baltic) .... 
I Fir (Russia) 
(^Deal, yellow.. .. 
43 0 
43 8 
55 9\ 
60 2 
47 3 
.64 14 
47 0 
55 6 
25 15§ 
38 11 § 
42 1 
28 11 
29 9 
40 8 
40 11 
39 15 
lb. oz. 
39 11 
18 6 
37 0 
40 13 
48 7 
Stas. 
Prepared. 
Single. Double 
790 
676 
678 
994 
790 
676 
538 
466 
730 
790 
7 20 
7 30 
677 
1372 
528 
732 
493 
733 
634 
556 
471 
1007 
822 
728 
933 
933 
950 
790 
676 
660 
860 
874 
704 
622 
1070 
1365 
Duration , 
3 
o 
>1 
1029 J [ed, 
Increas- 
^1 
^ Ditto. 
695 Doubled. 
And 
* The roof of Westminster-hall, built in 1399, is formed of sweet chesnut, which pro- 
bably grew in the neighbourhood, as the site of London was formerly a chesnut grove 
of spontaneous growth ; yet the use of this fast-growing timber, which succeeds in the 
most barren sands, is unknown in our dock yards, as is that of the ash, for the purpose of 
ship-building, although its utility is so well known for agricultural and other purposes; 
and as it contains much less gallic acid than the oak, or even tire chesnut, it would be less 
destructive to iron, and being so decidedly superior in strength to any other native wood, 
together with its length and clearness of ligneous fibre, is not only peculiarly applicable for 
plank, but superiority- adapted for thick stuff in the curve of the whale round the bows 
and buttocks of a ship, as may be seen in the rim of a wheel which is a whole circle made 
out of one piece. It is also admirably calculated, if properly prepared, for lower masts, 
which would be infinitely more lasting, at much less expence, than those we precariously 
procure from foreign countries. 
But as this proposition may appear extraordinary to some people, it may require some 
little explanation. The specific gravity of Russian fir masts, is to the best English ash. in 
their natural state in the proportion of 448 to 812, therefore an ashen mast, or a piece of 
timber for any other purpose made of that wood, to be of equal strength would be more 
ponderous ; but as shewn by the result of experiments before given, the specific gravity of 
the 
