5CT 
SHIP TIMBER. 
On the dura- 
bility and 
melioration of 
timber for 
naval con- 
structions. 
framed, or, what is yet more erroneous, by placing the timber 
in piles, as there practised. For as not only the cause of decay, 
but of shrinking and rents, would be removed, it is obvious 
that the timber for building a ship, or for any other purpose, 
might be readily formed on the spot where produced, exclusive 
of the saving in carriage or freight of at least one-half. The 
timber, although converted in different parts of this country or 
the world, would be ready to form part of a ship the instant it 
was delivered into the arsenal of construction ; and as the 
decomposition of timber commences from the moment a tree 
is cut down, a ship so built in six months, in a dock or slip, under 
cover, would be much more lasting than one six years in build- 
ing*. And if the plank, after being prepared, was brought to 
and combined to the timbers without being transversely per - 
forated, it is clear, that if the timber was properly moulded, the 
custom in use in his Majesty’s dock-yards to be the worst. — In 1805, 
the late Mr. Alexander Mackonochie proposed a u scheme for the 
ready seasoning of timber, in depriving it of its oxygen by the means 
of condensed steam, which would leave a vacuum, and thereby draw 
out the fluids from the wood, that when so freed if plunged into oil, 
their re-entrance would for ever be effectually precluded, and the 
strength of the wood found to be much increased, as well as the 
timber not only immediately seasoned but preserved in all its pristine 
state.” — This appears very specious, but had the ingenious theorist 
brought it to the test, it w ould have been found to promote a tendency 
directly opposite to what was proposed. — Some months ago, the princi- 
ple of impregnating timber was again renewed, as in a work of con- 
siderable eminence, published in September, 1812, it is stated : — 
u Experiments, we understand, are now making at Woolwich, on the 
speedy seasoning of timber, by stowing some hundred loads in a close 
kiln, and introducing, by means of a retort filled with sawdust, an 
oleaginous substance. The idea is ingenious, but w 7 e augur no useful 
results from the experiments themselves.” — The unfortunate result a 
short time after is well known ; for although, owing to a particular 
circumstance, an active ingenious person was employed, an explosion 
took place, by which, exclusive of the damage, several men were killed 
and wounded* 
* The Lively frigate wms 5 years in building. The Queen Charlotte, 
100 guns, 7 years. The Impregnable, 90, and Revenge, 74, 9 years. 
The Caledonia, 120, 12 years. The Hibernia, 120, 14 years. The 
Ocean, 98, 15 years. 
fabric 
