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506

THEORY OF
ARCHITECTURE.
Bo.,k II
beam have been sound. Tliis will be entirely
obviiiteil by inserting the wood in an iron
shoe, or by placing a thin piece of iron betwixt the wood and the stone. Cases are known
in which the iron siioe appeared to have proved a complete protection against dry rot and
decay ; a hard crust being formed on the timber in contact with the metal. The system of
grouting must contribute to the early decay of wiod bond; but at Manchester, where it
was used very generally, it appeared to answer well, for the higii temperature kept up in
the buildings may cause tlie walls to dry very soon. Sea-sand, used for outside and in-
side
purposes, in a
spirit of economy, soon shows the result by inducing the appearance of
rot in timber. Wood laid in sandy soil is well preserved, as was found to be the case in
the specimens lately dug up at Birkenhead from depths varying from
8
feet to 3;.' I'eet
;
tiiey were c;msidered to have been buried for centuries.
1747,
Notliing is more injurious to the floors of a building than covering them witli
painted floorcloth,
which entirely prevents the access of atmospheric air, whence the damp-
ness of the boards never evaporates ;
and it is well known that oak and fir posts have been
brought into
premature decay by painting them before their moisture had evapoiated
;
whilst in the timber and pewing of old churches, which have never been painted, we sie
them sound after the lapse of centuries. Semple, in iiis Tri-atise on Building in Water,
notices an instance of some field gates made of the fir of the place, part whereof, near tlie
mansion, were painted, and had become rotten, while those more distant frum the mansion,
which had never b^-en painted, were (juite sound.
1747a.
According to Baron Liebig, the decay of wood takes place in the three
following modes:I. The oxygen in the atmosphere combines with the hydrogen ot*
the fibrc"^ and the oxygen unites with the portion of carbon of the fibre, and evapo-
rates as carbo.ue acid; this jirocess is called decomposition. II. The actual deiay
of the wood which takes place when it is brought in contact with rotting substances. And
III. The inner decomposition of the wood in itself, by losing its carbjn forming carbonic
acid gas, and the fibre under the infiuence of the latter is changed into white dust
;
this is
called
putrefaction,
PREVENTION OF DECAY'.
174-8. After timber is felled, the best method of preventing decay is the immediate re-
moval of it to a dry situation, where it should be stacked in such a manner as to secure
a free circulation of air round it, but
without exposure to the sun and wind, and it should
be rough squared as soon as possible. When thoroughly seasoned before cutting it into
scantlings it is less liable to warp and twist in drying. The ground about its place of de-
posit should be dry and perfectly drained, so that no
vegetation may rise on it. Hence
a timber yard should be strewed with ashes, or the scales from a foundry or forge, which
supi)ly
an admirable antidote to all vegetation. It is thought that the more gradually
timber is seasoned the greater its dur.ib.lity ;
and as a general rule, it may be stated, that
it should not be used till a period of at least two years from its being felled, and tor joiners'
work at least four years. Much,
however, is dejiendent on the size of tlie pieces.
_
By some,
water seasoning has been recommended ; by others the steaming and boiling it
;
smoke-
drying, charriiig. and scorching have alsj been recommended. Tlie latter is, pcrliaps, the
best tb'r piles aiid other })iecos tiiat are to stand in tlie water or in the ground. It was prac-
tised by the ancients, and is still in use generally for the posts of park paling and the like.
1749. In Norway the deal jilanks are seasoned i)y laying them in salt water for three or
four days,
when newly s .wed, and then drying them iu the sun, a process which is con-
sidered to be attende,! wiih advantage ;
but it does not prevent their shrinking. Mr. Evelyn
recommends the water seasoning for fir.
1749a. The effectual seasoning obtained by Davison and Symington's patent process ot
forcing heated air in a continued current through timber under pressure, effectually dries
it, and
coagulates the allmmen. The timbers for the flooring of the Coal Exchange at
London have been s) treated, and show no signs of shrinkage. The wood was taken in its
natural state, and in less tlian ten days it was thoroughly seasoned
;
in some cases from 10
to 48 per cent of moisture was taken out of it. The air when heated to about 110 or
120
is sent through the timber at a rate of about 'IS miles per hour
;
the heat being regulated
according to the quality of the timber.
Honduras mahogany exposed to a heat of 300,
would have the whole of the moisture taken from it in 48 hours. This process, however,
sometimes splits the timber. Out of a
hundred specimens of wood exjierimented upon,
varying from one inch to twelve inches square, nut one of them split
:
even some openings
which were visible iiefore the process was applied, were found to he closer after it. Perhaps
9 inches square is the limit to
which the operation can be successfully applied.
1750. Notwithstanding,
however, all care in seasoning, when timber is employed in a
damp
situation it soon decays ;
and one of the principal remedies against that is good
drainage,
without which no
precautions will avail. It is most important to take care that
earth stiould not lie in contact with the walls of a building, for the damp is cpiickly coin-
municated, in that case, by their means to the ends of timliers, and rot soon follows. No
expedient to guard against this contingency is so good as what are called air drains.
I

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