178 
VARIETIES. 
inches.  Into  the  further  end  of  the  cylinder,  a  hollow  cast  iron  collar  is 
accurately  fitted,  but  can  be  withdrawn  and  replaced  at  pleasure,  the  joint 
being  water-tight — from  the  sectional  end  of  the  collar  which  is  foremost 
in  the  cylinder,  there  extends  a  rectangular  punch  sharpened  and  edged 
with  steel,  the  area  of  which  being  less  than  the  cross  section  of  the  rail- 
road sills  in  use.  This  is  driven  by  beetles  into  the  end  of  the  sill  placed 
in  the  cylinder,  and  then  firmly  secured  by  strong  bolts  connected  with  the 
apparatus. 
This  plan  of  cylinder  makes  a  water-tight  joint,  and  at  the  same  time  al- 
lows the  sap  to  escape,  and  secures  a  greater  pressure  at  the  end  of  the 
sill  which  lies  against  the  pump.  The  power  is  applied  by  hand  with  a 
crank. 
The  writer  experimenting  with  this  apparatus,  found  that  in  certain  clas- 
ses of  timber  which  were  freshly  cut,  the  sap  would  be  driven  out  with 
great  force,  rapidly  followed  by  the  solutions.  This  was  noticed  especially 
with  the  rock,  red,  and  black  oak  sills. 
Under  a  heavy  pressure  varying  from  1000  lbs.  to  1500  lbs.  per  square 
inch,  working  for  about  two  minutes,  the  sap  for  a  few  seconds  would  be 
ejected  at  the  end  of  the  sill ;  this  would  flow  sometimes  in  jets  like  the 
discharges  from  a  common  garden  watering  pot,  and  at  other  times  trick- 
ling in  frothing  exudations. 
It  was  found  that  in  white  oak  sills  under  the  enormous  pressure  of 
1320  lbs.  to  the  square  inch,  the  maximum  gain  in  weight  was  llf  lbs.  per. 
sill,  or  3-8  lbs.  per  cubic  foot. 
In  black  oak  under  800  lbs.,  the  maximum  gain  was  17|  lbs.  per  sill, 
or  5-8.  lbs.  per  cubic  foot. 
In  red  oak,  under  1400  lbs.,  the  maximum  gain  in  a  sill,  was  29  lbs.,  or 
9-6  lbs.  per  cubic  foot. 
In  Chestnut,  under  1500  lbs.,  per  square  inch,  the  maximum  gain  in  a 
sill  was  13  lbs.,  or  4-3  lbs,  per  cubic  foot. 
Upon  cutting  the  sills  most  successfully  operated  upon,  into  thin  cross 
sections  of  two  inches  in  thickness,  they  were  found  to  be  so  fully  saturat- 
ed, that  by  striking  them  violently  against  a  board,  the  solutions  would  ex- 
ude and  cover  the  surface  with  moisture. 
Though  it  required  but  two  minutes  in  operating  the  pump  for  the  com- 
plete impregnation  of  the  sills,  yet  the  time  occupied  in  adjusting  and  re- 
moving the  sill,  and  in  filling  and  draining  the  cylinder,  amounted  to  18 
minutes,  and  the  saturation  of  25  sills  was  the  average  work  accomplished 
in  10  hours. 
Boucherie's  process  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  countrymen ;  it  has 
been  adopted  on  the  Northern,  the  Eastern,  and  Nantes  railways  of  France 
— and  has  been  further  sustained  by  a  Board  of  Engineers  of  the  Ponts  et 
Chausees,  and  officers  of  Genise,  in  a  favorable  report  to  the  Government. 
It  has  certainly  great  merit,  yet  the  importance  of  operating  on  the  tim- 
ber within  a  few  days  after  it  has  been  felled,  and  the  manipulation  re- 
