46 
Indian Forest Records. 
[VOL. HI. 
absorb the preservative with the help of the suction caused by the 
vacuum. Professor Norman Rudolf, M.Sc., F.I.C., Chief of the 
Department of Applied Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science, 
was employed by the Bombay Branch of the Powellizing Company, to 
study the process. He explains it as follows : — 
“ During the time that the wood is immersed in the hot saccharine 
solution, the air entangled in the cells of the wood escapes, the 
albuminous matters are coagulated and both the saccharine matter and 
the poisonous substances penetrate into the pores of the cells. In the 
desiccating chamber the excess of moisture is rapidly removed with the 
result that after being allowed to cool the wood is fit for immediate 
use, being well seasoned. A microscopical examination of thin sections 
of Powellized wood reveals the fact that its cells are swollen up, some 
being apparently filled with the saccharine matter in a non-crystalline 
form; the saccharine solution having actually become a part of the 
structure of the wood. It is to this filling up of the pores that the 
Powell process owes its great value as a preservative of rot and decay, 
as rotting is due to the penetration of the wood by fine fungoid growths 
which in the treated wood have not chance of entering into its fibre/'’ 
Merits op the Process as claimed by the Company. 
The Company claim that the timber treated by this process is 
rendered immune to the attack of fungi and white-ants, that it tends to 
reduce shrinking, expanding, warping or splitting after treatment, and 
further that the appearance of the wood is improved and that its 
strength is probably increased, while the wood remains odourless. It is 
also stated that by this treatment the timber becomes impregnated 
throughout with the antiseptic, a most important consideration. 
Time alone can prove the most important of these claims ; that the 
timber is odourless after treatment is certain, and also though in most 
cases its appearance remains unchanged, in some instances the grain is im¬ 
proved in appearance. As regards the strength of the treated as compared 
with that of the untreated timber, no criticism can be made, as the tests 
carried out in this direction make no mention of the percentage of 
moisture in the timber at the time of examination. A machine has been 
prepared for carrying out expansion and contraction tests, and it is hoped 
that definite results in this connection will in due time be available. 
{ 119 ) 
