8S& On Preventing the Decay of Wood . 
wood* properly dried, with a varnish which is impene 
trable and indestructible by water. With this view two 
or three coats of the composition before described should 
be laid on the dry wood, before it is erected or put toge- 
ther, and a third or fourth after it is put in its place ; and 
proper means should be taken thoroughly to dry each 
successive coat of varnish. In situations of this kind, 
what means of preservation are necessary must be ern 
ployed at first; as it seems scarcely possible to renew 
them on fixed timber with any chance of benefit. 
I do not know whether in very damp situations, sur- 
rounded with stagnant air, these varnishes would in time 
admit of the growth of fungi or mould. The brimstone 
might be sufficient to preclude that effect ; but, if we be- 
lieve Rraconnot, seeds of the white mustard sown in pure 
flowers of brimstone, and well watered, became vigorous 
plants, which flowered and produced effective seed. It 
is certain, however, that the essential oil of turpentine 
will act as a poison on growing vegetables; and perhaps 
the same property may exist in resin, which seems to be 
a similar essential oil, united with a certain proportion of 
oxigen. 
It is however highly probable, that the union of the 
brimstone may have another good effect, which is to pre- 
vent one of the causes of the destruction of timber which 
I have before mentioned, the depredations of insects. 
Whoever would learn the havoc, which certain animals 
of this kind are capable of making in hot countries, would 
do well to read Smeathman’s description of the termes, 
or white ant, originally published in the Philosophical 
Transactions, and thence abridged into the English En- 
cyclopedia Rritannica, and other collections. In this 
country we know little of such ravages. Mischief how- 
ever of this kind does sometimes occur, and may be the 
work of various animals, a particular account of which 
