78 
FIGHTING THE DRY ROT. 
April, 1892. 
Moseley Road. Acting upon your advice, the floor was all 
taken up and burned, and all the holes where the joists were 
in the walls, burned out; walls at back of joists cemented. 
We then had new joists and double boards, and a cement 
skirting in room ; we put in iron gratings for ventilation, and 
have not ceiled under. We find it a perfect cure, not the 
least sign of fungus appearing ; were very particular to have 
all timber burned straightway, would not even keep any for 
firewood. I have to thank you for your kind advice, and in 
all cases in future purpose adopting the same principle. 
“(Signed) John Davison. 
“ Latimer Street South, Feb. 29th, 1892.” 
There can be no doubt that the chief secret of success in 
combating the dry-rot is thoroughness, half measures usually 
fail. The spores will not germinate except on rotten or 
rotting wood. I believe that the rotting of the wood is, in 
the first instance, caused by the action of bacteria which may 
seize upon any part that happens to be soaked in moisture. 
When the cells of the wood are thus disintegrated, they afford 
a suitable nidus for the germination of the spores of dry-rot 
or other similar saprophytic fungus. When the mycelium, 
spreading from the spores, has established itself, it may 
spread on to any substance that is near, and we thus 
get those beautiful woolly-looking growths, as pure and 
delicate as the drifted snow, which sometimes hang in 
masses from the walls and bricked ceilings of wine cellars. 
But in every such case the starting point has been rotting 
wood. 
The use of fresh, dry wood, and careful ventilation, so as 
to secure a current of dry air, will in all cases effect a cure, if 
care be taken to remove every particle of the old damp wood, 
and to purify well, by burning, all corners and holes in 
which spores or fragments of mycelium may have found a 
lodgment. 
Ventilation, alone, produces rather harm than good, as it 
blows the spores about and helps the fungus to spread if any 
fragments are left behind. 
In a dry place, however, the spores of M. lacrymans are 
perfectly harmless. I have had many perfect specimens in 
mv rooms for examination, and must, at times, have had the 
air filled with ripe spores, but in no case has any harm 
resulted. They cannot germinate without a suitable nidus 
such as I have described above, and after a time, I believe, 
they lose the power of doing so, even in otherwise favourable 
conditions. 
