Part II.] Pearson: Antiseptic Treatment of Timber . 
63 
In the above table, calculations have been made based on the assump¬ 
tion of partial or superficial absorption and also assuming complete 
impregnation. As only specimen No. 7 was completely impregnated 
and the others had only the outer layers of the timber affected by the 
oil, it is obvious that we must be guided by the cost based on superficial 
absorption. The cost of treating Nos. 1 and £ come well within the 
economic limit of working ; on the other hand, the depth of penetration 
of the oil was hardly sufficient to guarantee protection to the timber. 
No. 3 was more heavily impregnated and to a greater depth. Without a 
prolonged trial it cannot be said with certainty whether this specimen 
was sufficiently saturated to preserve it from decay, but probably it would 
be so. The cost works out to 9 f 05 annas for a B. Gr. sleeper and so well 
within the working limit. 
Before leaving this question it is necessary to again remember 
that such laboratory experiments carried out on a small scale, are bv no 
means conclusive, and that calculations of cost of treatment based on 
work carried out on a very limited scale generally give figures consider¬ 
ably hig’her than if the work were done on a large commercial scale. 
European and Indian Records of Avenarius Carbolineum. 
Avenarius Carbolineum has been long on the market in France, 
while timbers treated with this oil have repeatedly proved its value. 
Professor Henry, Deputy Director of the National Forest School of 
France, has carried out exhaustive experiments with Carbolineum oil, the 
results of which are published in his treatise entitled “ La Preservation 
des Bois contre la Pourriture. ” He laid down treated and untreated 
beech, oak, poplar and a variety of pine posts in the ground as also in 
mines. After three years the untreated post had perished, while the 
treated timber remained sound. The result of his research in this 
direction induced M. Dubois, Ingenieur des Ponts et Chauss^es to lay 
down 7,000 sleepers treated with this oil on the narrow gauge line to 
Toul, and there appears to be no reason why the experiment should not 
turn out a success. 
The Company in their prospectus state that Avenarius Carbolineum 
was used in the construction of the dock of the Union Carbide Works, 
Sault State, Mane, Mich: by the Bay Counties Power Co., St. Fran¬ 
cisco, on the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and many other places in Europe 
and America, and in all cases it proved efficient in preserving the timber. 
( 136 ) 
