20 
factory ; and a recompense was granted by Parliament to For- 
syth for making known the preparation, and mode of applica- 
tion of his celebrated composition. The document which un- 
folded Forsyth’s secret was dated from Kensington Gardens, 
May 11th, 1791 ; and having been esteemed of so much impor- 
tance, we give it verbatim, as follows : — 
“Take one bushel of fresh cow-dung, half a bushel of lime- 
rubbish of old buildings (that from the ceilings of rooms is pre- 
ferable) half a l)ushel of wood ashes, and a sixteenth part of a 
bushel of pit or river sand ; the three last articles are to be sifted 
fine before they are mixed ; then work them well together with 
a spade, and afterwards with a wooden beater, until the stuff is 
very smooth, like fine plaster used for the ceilings of rooms.” 
“The Composition being thus made, care must be taken to 
prepare the tree properly for its application, by cutting away 
all the dead, decayed, and injured part, till you come to the 
fresh sound wood, leaving the surface of the wood very smooth, 
and rounding off the edges of the bark with a draw-knife, or 
other instrument, perfectly smooth, which must be particularly 
attended to; then lay on the plaster about one-eighth of an inch 
thick, all over the part where the wood or bark has been so cut 
away, finishing off the edges as thin as possible; then take a 
quantity of powder of dry wood ashes, mixed with a sixth part 
of the same quantity of the ashes of burnt bones ; put it into a 
tin box, with holes in the top, and shake the powder on the 
surface of the plaster, till the whole is covered over with it, 
letting it remain for half an hour, to absorb the moisture; then 
apply more powder, rubbing it on gently with the hand, and 
repeating the application of the powder, till the whole plaster 
becomes a dry smooth surface.” 
“All trees cut down near the ground should have the surface 
made quite smooth, rounding it ofl?’ in a small degree, as before 
mentioned ; and the dry powder directed to be used afterwards 
should have an equal quantity of powder of alabaster mixed 
with it, in order the better to resist the dripping of trees and 
heavy rains.” 
“ If any of the Composition be left for a future occasion, it 
should be kept in a tub, or other vessel, and urine of any kind 
poured on it, so as to cover the surface; otherwise the atmo- 
sphere will greatly hurt the efficacy of the application.” 
