150 
Wood 
Wooden specimens occur in such a variety of forms that their effective 
treatment offers a special series of problems. The chief destructive 
agencies are excessive dryness, with its attendant splitting and warping, 
insect pests, and fungi. Special cases occur, also, such as wooden specimens 
collected in a wet or moist soil, which will warp and shrink out of all recog- 
nition if allowed to dry at all. 
Drying. Reasonable drying of wood is one of the best methods of 
preserving it, but the excessively dry conditions to which wooden speci- 
mens in museums are frequently exposed are very destructive. If at all 
possible, provision should be made for keeping the air in both storage and 
exhibition rooms at a normal humidity. When this cannot be done, and 
specimens show the effects of over-dry conditions, they should be treated 
with a solution that will fill the pores of the wood and strengthen the 
fibres. The best material for this purpose is a thin solution of celluloid 
in acetone. Small specimens may be dipped and allowed to remain in the 
bath until no more air bubbles rise from them when they are moved. 
Larger specimens must have the solution painted on them. Very large 
wooden objects such as dug-out canoes, grave monuments, and totem poles 
may be treated by applying the solution to them in a fine jet by means of 
a syphon arrangement. A large jar or tank of the celluloid solution is 
supported 3 or 4 feet above the specimen and a long rubber tube, termin- 
ating in a small glass nozzle, forms the syphon. The wood should be 
thoroughly dry when the solution is applied and large quantities will be 
absorbed. When the wood has soaked up as much as it will, it should be 
allowed to dry and should then be treated again in the same way, and the 
alternate drying and spraying should be continued until the wood refuses 
to accept any more of the solution. Specimens treated in this way become 
quite hard and are resistant to all destructive agencies, but their appearance 
will not be changed in any way. 
Insects. Wood-boring beetles are the principal insect pests to be 
guarded against and their presence is easily detected by the observation 
of “worm-holes” in the wood and the fine wood dust expelled by the larvae. 
Fumigation will kill the beetles, but if the celluloid solution is used fumi- 
gation is unnecessary as the insects will be very effectively embalmed. 
Fungi. These organisms depend on the presence of moisture and air 
for their active existence. A thoroughly dry specimen which has been 
attacked by fungi is safe until it becomes moist again, as it will do when 
the atmospheric humidity increases beyond a certain point. “Dry rot” 
and the various “stains” are the principal fungi to be feared and usually 
occur to a serious extent in large specimens only. Various chemical solu- 
tions have been suggested as fungicides, one of the best being mercuric 
chloride in alcohol, a 2 per cent solution being sufficiently strong. This is 
an extremely poisonous substance and should be used with the greatest 
care. “Dry rot” is readily identified by the dry, powdery, friable appear- 
ance of the wood, which is often broken up into more or less cubical frag- 
ments in badly infected specimens. Celluloid solution applied to these 
areas will consolidate the fragments and prevent their loss, thus retaining 
the original shape of the specimen. It is also effective in killing the fungus 
itself by preventing its access to air and moisture. In advanced cases of 
