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Creos'oting. 
 
 PROCESS OF SEELY. 
 
 Preservation of Timber from Decay and 
 the Attacks of Marine Worms. 
 
 ^ -t' 
 
 EUROPEAN REPORTS. ^..^^^i^^ 
 
 Thirty Years' Practical Experience in Railway 
 AND Marine Works. 
 
 AMERICAN REPORTS, 
 
 1 8 70. 
 
.PA- 
 
 Apparatus of any desired capacity, for Creosoiing any description 
 of Timber, will be put up for Railroad Companies, Contractors, 
 Builders of Marine Works, Lumber Manufacturers and others, in any 
 part of the United States. 
 
 Contracts will be made for furnishing Creosoted Railroad Ties, 
 Piles, Dock and Bridge Timbers, Telegraph Poles, Fence Posts,^ Lumber 
 for Pavements, Platforms, Stable Floors, &c., or the same will be 
 Creosoted to order. 
 
 Creosoted Railway Ties and Piles, which have been in use for 
 nearly twenty-five years, can be examined, and further information 
 obtained, on application to 
 
 W. T. PeltoNj 
 
 157 Broadway, 
 
 New York. 
 164 Washington Street, 
 Chicago. 
 
 H. C. LESTER, ) ^ . p , 
 
 WALLACE WARREN, \ General Agents, 157 Broadway, 
 
 New York. 
 
 WOUKS: 
 
 Eagle Steam Saw Mills, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 North Pier, Chicago. 
 " C. B. & Q. R. R., Aurora, IlL 
 Gov't Pier, St. Clair Flats, Mich. 
 Foot 28th St., N, River, New York. 
 
Destruction of Wood, 
 
 X> E C A. Y. 
 
 A.CT10N OF Marine Worms. 
 
 The Causes. 
 
 THE PREVENTION. 
 
 It is only within a few years that the preservation of 
 'Wood has become in America a subject of urgent impor- 
 tance. The older inhabitants of many of our populous 
 districts remember distinctly when forest trees were cum- 
 berers of the ground and obstructions in the path of civil- 
 ization. The first and severest duty of the pioneer was 
 to destroy with fire and axe the hardy and luxuriant veg- 
 etation. But we begin now to appreciate truly the value 
 of wood, and to feel alarm at the threatened scarcity of 
 the future. The wanton destruction of forests is pro- 
 hibited by law — the standing trees have a price, which is 
 everywhere advancing. The sources of supply of timber 
 are gradually receding from the great commercial markets, 
 and an increasing cost of transport is to be added to the 
 increasing cost of production. We cannot reproduce the 
 wealth of the exhausted forests, nor can we hope for an 
 
adequate substitute. It is probable that the demand for 
 lumber doubles in ten years, and this in the face of the 
 fact that the limits of supply are inexorably narrowing. 
 
 Although we cannot increase the production of wood, 
 we may use with more economy what we have — we may 
 make it go further and last longer. Wood spontaneously 
 decays; this decay may be arrested and prevented; by 
 means of art perishable wood may be made as durable as 
 stone or metal. Saving is gaining — preservation is more 
 than equivalent to production. The doubling the life of 
 wood may often quadruple its value. An efficient pro- 
 cess for preserving wood may, in effect, resuscitate our per- 
 ished forests and make two oaks to grow where was but 
 one before. An efficient wood-preserving process is, then, 
 the proper and sure remedy for the scarcity of wood : it 
 is the great desideratum. 
 
 Europe is at least twenty-five years in advance of 
 America in the art of preserving wood. There was a 
 scarcity of wood in Europe when here our greatest care 
 was to be rid of its abundance. During the last twenty- 
 five years, the best facilities of science and of practical 
 tests, have been brought to bear on the questions of wood- 
 decay and its prevention. Experiments have beerl made 
 on the largest and most careful scale. The subject has 
 enlisted the constant scrutiny of government commissions, 
 learned societies, wealthy corporations, and ingenious 
 inventors. The theories have been fully elaborated, and 
 every one which had any merit of plausibility has been 
 subjected to the final ordeal of practice. The discussion 
 has been careful, vigorous, and exhaustive. The conclu- 
 sions which have been reached from such profound scien- 
 tific investigatiori and such lengthened and intelligent 
 experience must be accepted as final. 
 
Fortunately for us Americans, the European experi- 
 ence in the art of preserving wood is easily accessible : 
 we ought to avail ourselves of it. Those especially who 
 conscientiously desire to improve the art should study its 
 history, in order to commence the work where others have 
 left it. By ignoring it, there is risk of wasting energies in 
 abandoned paths, and on projects which are utterly worth- 
 less. The American enterprise, hopefulness, and self- 
 confidence are essential elements of our prosperity, but are 
 too apt to hurry us away from sight of the experience of 
 others. It is a fact that, in the haste to meet the demand 
 for a wood-preserving process, some of the crudest and 
 most impracticable schemes have been gravely offered to 
 the American public. 
 
 At this time, then, it is believed that the principles of 
 science applicable to the case are established, and that 
 there is sufficient unobjectionable experience whereon to 
 rest the certainty of results in practice. The art is be- 
 lieved to be so nearly perfected that little improvement 
 is to be looked for except in the minutise of the work, 
 and in modifications required to adapt it to the peculi-, 
 arities of America. But as the art in itself is of such im- 
 mense moment, the smallest improvement is worth 
 striving for, and is sure to command its reward. 
 
 We propose now, briefly and plainly, to set down what 
 appear to be the most important points required for a 
 good appreciation of the art of preserving wood. The 
 statements we shall make are believed to have the sim- 
 plicity of truth, and that thus they will appeal to and 
 satisfy the candid judgment. For further confirmation 
 and for additional facts, we refer to the appended opin- 
 ions of experts of unimpeachable authority. 
 
The Nature and Conditions of Decay. 
 
 Ordinary wood may be considered as made up of 
 fibrous ligneous matter and albuminous sap. The fibrous 
 portion is, chemically, identical with cotton or hemp, and 
 the sap closely resembles diluted white of egg. The sap, 
 by reason of the albumen it contains, is especially the un- 
 stable part of wood : it readily and spontaneously under- 
 goes decomposition, and, in its destruction, it induces 
 and hastens that of the fibrous part. It acts like a fer- 
 ment, or a virus, to infect and to destroy what it touches. 
 If this action is not checked, the wood loses its cohesion, 
 till at last it may be washed away with water, or crumbles 
 to powder. Much of the deterioration of wood is also due 
 to a slow and spontaneous oxidation or combustion, for 
 which Liebig has proposed the name eremacausis. The 
 words eremacausis^ fermentation^ and putrefaction indicate 
 and describe all the cases of ordinary decay. In short, 
 wood is like other perishable organic matter, and the 
 conditions and general phenomena of its decay are 
 substantially the same as of other vegetable, and even of 
 animal substances. In all cases, air and water are essen- 
 tial conditions of decay, and when the decay has once 
 commenced in the weakest part, it progresses with in- 
 creased activity. 
 
 The injury to wood by boring insects and parasites, 
 needs only to be alluded to here. 
 
 The Prevention. 
 
 Inasmuch as decay begins with the albuminous part, it 
 appears reasonable that the removal, or the artificial de- 
 struction of the albumen might be a suitable basis for a 
 practical process. Albumen is soluble in water, and may 
 
be completely removed from wood by soaking or steep- 
 ing in running water ; also the putrescibility of albumen 
 is almost completely checked by heat — like egg albu- 
 men, it is coagulated by heat. The value of such, treat- 
 ment is also confirmed by abundance of experience. Rait- 
 ed lumber, or that which has in other ways been sub- 
 jected to the solvent action of water, and lumber which 
 has been exposed for a short time to steam heat, is gen- 
 erally known to be more durable than that which has 
 not been soaked or steamed. It is possible, and perhaps 
 sometimes practicable, by such simple means, to 
 obviate all the evil which arises from the presence 
 of the natural albumen in wood. The removal or 
 destruction of sap by water and steam can, however, 
 have but little commercial importance. Wood is 
 improved by the de-albumenizing, but it is improved 
 for a very narrow range of use. When a preservative is 
 most needed, any simple anti-albumen process utterly fails. 
 Wood-rot is a serious evil only when the wood is exposed 
 to the weather, or in water, or under ground. It is the 
 timber of the railroad bed, pavements, docks, and bridges, 
 and not the work of the cabinetmaker and the house 
 carpenter, which needs protection. 
 
 De-albumenized wood is still porous, and even more 
 porous than was the wood in its natural state : it is ready 
 to drink in whatever liquids may come in contact with 
 it. When it is understood that almost any foul water, 
 and even rain water, is injurious to wood in the ames 
 way as the natural sap, we can have little hope of pro- 
 cesses which aim only to be rid of natural albumen. 
 Stagnant water generally, the drainage of streets, cattle- 
 yards and stables, is filled with matter which is infectious 
 to the fibre of wood. The removal of sap from wood 
 
can surely be of no avail if the wood is immediately to 
 be saturated with other matter more destructive still. 
 Finally, the de-albumenizing affords little protection 
 against eremacausis. 
 
 It was supposed at one time that the simple use of an- 
 tiseptics would prove our safe and perfect refuge. 
 
 Antiseptics seemed to respond so fully to the require- 
 ments of the case, that at once they were used on the 
 greatest scale. The men who proposed the most impor- 
 tant antiseptics, and assisted in promoting their use, were 
 honored by having their names connected with the art of 
 wood preserving. Thus, Kyan, in 1832, proposed the 
 impregnation of wood with a solution of corrosive subli- 
 mate, and Burnett, in 1838, proposed a solution of chloride 
 of zinc — and the words Kyanizing and Burnettizing are 
 still familiar to us. Corrosive sublimate is, without doubt, 
 the most efficient of all the antiseptics which have been 
 much used, but its great cost and its poisonous cliaracter 
 have entirely driven it out of use. Chloride of zinc is 
 nearly as efficient as sulphate of copper, while it has the 
 advantage of lower cost. These two are the only simple 
 antiseptics which are much in use at the present day. 
 Antiseptics act upon the sap part of the wood, and they 
 effectually destroy its putrescibility ; they act promptly, 
 and the cost of their employment is small. But experi- 
 ence has, however, shown that antiseptics alone, and as 
 ordinarily used, are of little value for the preservation of 
 wood which is exposed to water. They are all soluble 
 in water, and thus may be washed out of wood by water. 
 Wood treated with antiseptics is in a condition but little 
 better than that which has been named de-albumenized 
 wood. The radical difficulty remains with both, viz.: 
 that the pores of the wood are left open, inviting new 
 
seeds of decay. Wood treated simply with metallic solu- 
 tions is but little, if at all, improved for use on docks, 
 pavements, or railroad beds. Antiseptics promptly de- 
 stroy albumen, but it is wholly impracticable to keep 
 within the wood such a store of them as will be needed 
 to destroy all the putrescent matter which is liable to come 
 in contact with it. 
 
 The reader has, no doubt, now a glimpse of the conclu- 
 sion of the whole matter, viz.: that the perfect wood- 
 preserving process must provide for the sealing the pores 
 of the wood against the entrance of putrescent matter. 
 In 1838, John Bethell introduced the use of creosote oil 
 in the art of preserving wood. At the first the oil was 
 valued mainly as an antiseptic, but the fact has now come 
 clearly to light that its best office is so to fill the wood as 
 to exclude air, water, and putrescent matter. Timber 
 properly creosoted has never been known to rot, and it 
 has been subjected to severe tests for more than twenty- 
 five years. Creosote oil is an excellent antiseptic and con- 
 tains a considerable percentage of a substance like cam- 
 phor, which is noxious to insects ; and, finally, it is sold at 
 a low price. 
 
 We will now briefly consider some of the plans pro- 
 posed for impregnating wood with liquids, intending that 
 the remarks shall apply more particularly to the use of 
 Creosote oil. 
 
 The Pressure Process. 
 
 The wood and liquid being contained in, and nearly 
 filling a closed and strong iron receptacle, more liquid is 
 pumped in till a high pressure is attained and the liquid 
 is forced into the pores of the wood. The pressure re- 
 quired for the purpose approaches 200 pounds to the 
 
8 
 
 square Inch, and the apparatus is consequently very heavy 
 and very expensive. Only well-seasoned and dry wood 
 is suitable for the process, as it is evident that if the pores 
 of the wood be occupied with sap no amount of simple 
 pressure will condense the sap to permit the entrance of 
 the preservative liquid. The great cost of setting up and 
 working this process, and the fact that it cannot be effec- 
 tively used for unseasoned lumber have prevented its ex- 
 tensive introduction into the United States. 
 
 Soaking, Steeping and Boiling. 
 
 To obviate the expense of the pressure ap- 
 paratus, various plans of impregnation by soak- 
 ing, steeping and boiling have been proposed 
 and brought into use to a limited extent. None 
 of them, however, can be of important commercial value, 
 for the reason that they are quite too slow in operation. 
 Other methods accomplish in a few hours what would re- 
 quire as many months by soaking or steeping. It is also 
 to be remarked, that while the boiling of wood in a liquid 
 is but slightly more efficient than the cold soaking, the 
 wood is always injured in its strength by boiling it in 
 creosote or other oils of high boiling points. 
 
 The Vapor Process. 
 
 This process was proposed at a time when the value 
 of antiseptics was over-estimated, and when the neces- 
 sity of filling the pores of the wood was overlooked. It 
 was supposed that the vapor of oleaginous substances 
 would carry into the body of the wood sufficient of the 
 antiseptic power to counteract decay. The process was 
 
first carried out on an extensive scale by Luken, in 1811. 
 A reliable authority states: "Most of the timber sub- 
 mitted to the vapor became cracked, and rendered quite 
 unfit for the construction of ships. The building in 
 which the impregnation was effected, the length of which 
 was thirty-two feet and the breadth twelve feet, at last 
 exploded ; but the trial was quite adequate to prove the 
 insufficiency of the process." Notwithstanding this in- 
 structive experience the vapor process was revived in 
 England by F. Moll in 1835, and quite recently by, 
 perhaps, a score of inventors in the United States. Lu- 
 ken's experiment has been repeated several times, and 
 with still more disastrous consequences. Leaving out 
 of question the danger of the use of inflammable vapors, 
 and the injury to the wood by the high heat* necessa- 
 rily employed, it is quite impracticable to get into the 
 wood any serviceable amount of the antiseptic substance. 
 Vapor is a very unsubstantial form of matter, and if the 
 pores of wood could be completely permeated with it, no 
 very useful "purpose would be effected thereby ; on con- 
 densation of the vapor the pores would be again left 
 empty. 
 
 The Seely Process. 
 
 This process is believed to be the only one which, 
 in all respects, responds to the requirements indicated 
 by science and experience, and which is especially 
 adapted to the wants of our own country. During the 
 past three years it has been in use on the working scale 
 in various parts of the United States, and large quan- 
 tities of railroad, dock and pavement timber have been 
 successfully treated. It has been witnessed in operation 
 
 '. *The boiling point of creosote oil ranges from 400 degs. to 700 degs. 
 
16 
 
 and endorsed without any qualifications by our leading 
 scientific and practical experts, and has fully realized 
 the expectations of its friends and promoters. 
 
 The process, in brief, consists (i) in subjecting the 
 wood to a temperature above the boiling point of water 
 and below 300 degs. while immersed in a bath of creo- 
 sote oil for a sufficient length of time to expel the 
 moisture. When the water is thus expelled, and the 
 pores contain only steam, (2) the hot oil is quickly 
 replaced by a bath of cold oil, by means of which 
 change the steam in the pores of the wood is con- 
 densed, and a vacuum formed, into which the oil is 
 forced by atmospheric pressure and capillary attraction. 
 
 It should be observed that the heating in the hot 
 bath (the oil being heated by means of a coil of steam- 
 pipes and no direct fire coming near the oil) is of itself 
 a most thorough, simple, economical and safe season- 
 ing process. The heat is applied in this way so evenly 
 and continuously that the whole body of the wood is 
 operated on uniformly ; none of the bad effects of rapid 
 seasoning by heating in hot air, superheated steam or 
 oil vapors have been observed. This seasoning is such 
 a perfect substitute for any other kind that we find no 
 advantage in the use of air-seasoned wood for the process, 
 except for the trifling cost of fuel required to expel the 
 sap from green wood. In other words, the use of the 
 Seely process obviates the thorough air drying which 
 is required by the pressure system. 
 
 The expulsion of the sap, and the amount of oil 
 forced into the wood, is under perfect control of the 
 operator. A condensing-worm is commonly attached to 
 the bath tank or cylinder, and then the sap, as it is 
 expelled, is seen and measured ; the ceasing of the flow 
 
11 
 
 at the condenser is a sure sign that the moisture is 
 wholly expelled. The progress of the absorption of the 
 cold oil into the wood is also observed by a gauge show- 
 ing the gradual descent of the level of oil in the tank. 
 Thus any proportion of the total moisture of the wood 
 may be expelled, and any desired fraction of the vacuum 
 of the pores may be filled at pleasure. In practice, we 
 suggest that the sap be thoroughly expelled in all cases, 
 and that when it is not desired to completely saturate 
 the wood with oil, the oil be thickened with tar. 
 
 In the pressure process, well dried wood only, can 
 be used and the pores of the wood are consequently 
 filled with air; the impregnating liquid is forced in 
 against this air, and the air is not expelled, but makes 
 room for the liquid only by as much as it is com- 
 pressed towards the center of the stick. On the com- 
 pletion of the impregnation the confined air is still un- 
 der high tension and its tendency is to force out the 
 liquid which lies outside of it. In the Seely process on 
 the other hand, the preserving liquid enters a vacuum, 
 and if the vacuum be not completely filled the ten- 
 dency of the liquid is always inward, and not outward. 
 These considerations explain the greater cleanliness of 
 the wood treated by our process. Moreover, it seems 
 evident, that it is quite impossible to fully saturate 
 with a liquid, wood containing air by any practicable 
 amount of pressure. The apparatus required for the 
 pressure process is very costly and ponderous, while 
 ours is comparatively inexpensive and portable. 
 
 The process which is here commended to public fa- 
 vor, the invention of Professor Charles A. Seely, of 
 New York, was patented in the United States, in Sep- 
 tember, 1867, and subsequently in foreign countries. 
 
AN ABSTRACT OF A PAPER 
 
 READ AT THE MEETING OF THE 
 
 CHEMICAL SECTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Philosophical Society of Glasgow, 
 BY MR. P. M. MOIR. 
 
 This paper was specially written to explain tRe methods 
 that have been and are now in use for the preservation of 
 timber from decay by disease and exposure to the atmos- 
 phere, or destruction by marine worms and insects. 
 
 Timber when exposed to the action of the atmosphere 
 is soon acted on by damp. This is especially noticeable 
 in all timber fixed in the ground. The action commences 
 at the parts immediately above the surface of the ground, 
 where the fibrous portions of the wood are softened by 
 the moisture, mould and decay being produced. These 
 are indicative of a sort of slow combustion which is set 
 up by the alternations of wet and dry. This kind of 
 wasting away is termed wet rot. Another and very de- 
 structive form of decay is that which is known as dry rot. 
 This goes on most rapidly where there is no circulation 
 of air. It is believed by some persons to be caused by 
 parasites ; but by others it is believed that the parasites 
 only appear after the decomposition has set in, and that 
 they appear and live to consume the materials which by 
 their accumulation might render the earth and air unsuited 
 to the essential conditions of life and health. There is 
 some probability that dry rot is a result of the felling of 
 
13 
 
 timber while it is full of sap, that is, between the end of 
 spring and the beginning of autumn. Another familiar 
 form of disease is that which is caused by the termite or 
 white ant. This creature's operations prove very destruc- 
 tive in India, Ceylon, Brazil, and most tropical countries. 
 Its attacks are most ravenous on all wood buildings, rail- 
 way sleepers, and bridges, even though the constructive 
 material be lignum-vitse, one of the hardest and most 
 durable of woods. 
 
 When timber is used in marine structures the destruc- 
 tive agents are greater enemies than decay by dry or wet 
 rot. There are two of them which are the best known 
 among salt water destructive agents, and are very ruinous 
 to all wood erections which are unprotected from their 
 ravages either chemically or mechanically. They are 
 the teredo navalis, or ship-worm, and the Limnoria tere- 
 brans. The teredo is a long worm-shaped creature, which 
 perforates timber, generally, in the direction of the grain, 
 but sometimes across the grain with many windings 
 When a knot is met with, or the shell of another teredo 
 the creature accommodates itself to circumstances by 
 bending from its original course. In a fir pile, taken from 
 the old pier of Southend, a worm was found two feet 
 long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Some 
 have been seen three and even four feet long, and one 
 inch in diameter. The teredo grows very rapidly, and its 
 ravages are often very terrible on ships, piles, &c. The 
 teredo is not nearly so prevalent on the Scottish coast as 
 in the South of England and on the coasts of France and 
 Holland, where unprotected timber is readily destroyed. 
 
 The limnoria terebrans is very abundant around the 
 British shores. Its ravages were first particularly observed 
 in the year 1810, by the late Mr. Robert Stevenson, en- 
 
gineer of the Bell-Rock Lighthouse. The limnoria very 
 much resembles a wood-louse, and is about 1-6 inch in 
 length. It is gregarious, and in situations favorable for 
 the exercise of its habits it soon produces great effects on 
 the wood to which it attaches itself By boring in all 
 directions it so disintegrates the wood as to allow the sea 
 to wash away its surface, and thus layer after layer of the 
 wood is riddled by the borer, and then abraded by the 
 sea, until the whole piece of timber attached is completely 
 destroyed. 
 
 Various. opinions have been entertained regarding the 
 mode in which the limnoria perforates and destroys tim- 
 ber, but the opinion expressed by Dr. Coldstream, after 
 very careful observation, seems to be the most worthy of 
 credence. He states that the animal effects its work by 
 the use of its mandibles, and it seems that it is necessary 
 that the hole should be filled with salt water. The dis- 
 tance bored is from one to two inches long, and as the 
 hole increases in size the animal leaves its old workings 
 and begins new ones. 
 
 All kinds of timber in the unprepared state, except 
 greenheart, are readily devoured by the limnoria, if used in 
 harbor works not exposed to the influence of fresh or 
 river water. Greenheart is not molested by the animal 
 at all, but every other kind of wood is attacked immedi- 
 ately that it is put into the sea, whether afloat or fixed, 
 but more readily if fixed. The boring is generally lim- 
 ited to that portion which is between two-thirds flood and 
 the bed of the sea or estuary. The rate at which the lim- 
 noria bores into wood in pure salt water, is said to be about 
 one inch in a twelve-month ; but instances have occurred 
 in which the destruction has been much more rapid. At 
 Greenock, for instance, a pile of twelve inches square was 
 
15 
 
 eaten through in seven years. The limnoria cannot live 
 in fresh water ; hence it is not found doing any damage 
 in the Clyde higher than Port-Glasgow. 
 
 Greenheart timber in its natural state is the only wood 
 now in use for harbor works that is proof against the at- 
 tacks of marine creatures, and those of the white ant in 
 tropical countries. There are two reasons why it enjoys 
 this immunity from attack : first, there is its great hard- 
 ness ; and, , secondly, there is the presence of a large 
 quantity of essential oil. It is a very hard and durable 
 wood, weighing about 75 lbs. to the cubic foot, and hav- 
 ing a specific gravity of 1.089, ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^ little heav- 
 ier than water. It is brought from Demerara. Great 
 care is required in working it, as it is very liable to split. 
 In sawing, it is necessary to have all the logs bound tightly 
 with chains, failing which precaution, the log would break 
 up into splinters, and be very apt to injure the men 
 working it. 
 
 The author then proceeded to discuss the various me- 
 chanical and chemical methods that have been employed 
 to preserve timber from natural decay or from the de- 
 struction effected by living creatures. The mechanical 
 methods are wholly employed for marine purposes, and 
 are the oldest in use. One of these consists in covering 
 piles, between high and low-water mark, with flat-headed 
 iron nails, the heads being about one inch in diameter, 
 and the nails being driven so close that the heads touch, 
 but do not overlap each other. This method is expen- 
 sive, both on account of the materials employed and 
 time required in the operation ; and besides this, it is very 
 inefficient, as the nails readily corrode, and leave room 
 for the attacks of the living enemies. Another plan is 
 to cover the piles or other submerged timbers with sheets 
 
i6 
 
 of zinc or copper. This also is an efficient means of pro- 
 tection. 
 
 For the preservation of wood by means of chemical 
 preparations, although many patents have been taken out, 
 not more than six have been worked commercially. In 
 all cases these patents were obtained for the use of solu- 
 tions of certain chemical compounds, as preservative 
 agents. The names of the patentees and the most Valu- 
 able compounds employed are shown in the following 
 table: 
 
 Kyan 1832 Chloride of mercury. 
 
 Margary - - - - 1837 Sulphate of copper. 
 
 Bethell 1838 [ ^ . , ., 
 
 Bethell ----- 1848 \ Creosote or pitch oil. 
 
 Burnett - - - - 1838 [ chloride of zinc. 
 
 Burnett - . - - 1840 ) 
 
 Boucherie - - - - 1839 Pyrolignite of iron. 
 
 Boucherie - - - - 1846 Sulphate of copper. 
 
 Payne ----- 1841 Sulphate of iron. 
 
 Payne ----- 1846 Carbonate of soda. 
 
 The methods employed practically in working these 
 patents were three in number, namely : steeping, vital 
 suction, and pressing in close vessels. Kyan and Mar- 
 gary employed the first-mentioned method; Boucherie 
 employed the second; and Payne, Burnett and Bethell 
 employed the third, which was also latterly adopted by 
 Boucherie. The first and third methods required that 
 the timber should be seasoned and free from sap. 
 
 The author described each patented process at some 
 length, mentioning how it is carried out, the advantages 
 and disadvantages in each case, and the conditions under 
 which it has any practical benefit. In no case did the 
 evidence, regarding the value of the process, seem to equal 
 that in favor of the creosoting process, at all events, if 
 the timber is to be exposed to the weather or to be used 
 in structural works, which are subjected to the action of 
 either fresh water or salt water. 
 
17 
 
 Kyanizing, or injecting corrosive sublimate (chloride 
 of mercury) into timber, is very expensive, if properly 
 done ; and besides this, there is the fact that it is practi- 
 cally useless, inasmuch as it has been found that kyanized 
 piles, after three years' miner sion in the sea^ did not contain 
 a trace of the preservative compound. 
 
 Sulphate of copper, first suggested as a preservative 
 agent by Margary, and afterwards employed largely by 
 Boucherie, may be used to prevent dry rot in timber 
 but for piers, bridges, railway sleepers, and other struc- 
 tures which are exposed to the action of water, it has no 
 practical value, as the water dissolves out the salt with 
 great rapidity, timber prepared with this salt., and used 
 for marine purposes., is as readily destroyed by the teredo and 
 the limnoria as unprepared timber. 
 
 In Payne's process, solution of sulphate of iron is first 
 absorbed into the wood, and afterwards carbonate of soda. 
 Double decomposition ensues, and the practical result is 
 the formation of oxide of iron, the deposition of which 
 renders wood brittle, and does not prevent the attacks of 
 either of the animals just named. 
 
 Of Sir William Burnett's chloride of zinc process, the 
 author could say nothing from personal experience. The 
 essential part of the chemical action of the compound is 
 the formation of an insoluble coagulum with the albu- 
 men of the wood. It is claimed for the Burnett process 
 that it renders wood proof against the attacks of the 
 white ants in India ; and wood for in-door purposes is 
 permanently improved by it. 
 
 Bethell's patent process for preserving timber, by the 
 use of creosote pitch oil, is the only one which really ac- 
 complishes the object aimed at, although many patents 
 for the use of oleaginous subtsances had been secured prior 
 
i8 
 
 to the year 1838, with the same object in view. Creo- 
 sote acts very powerfully in coagulating the albumen con- 
 tained in the cells of the wood, and besides this, it effect- 
 ually preserves the fibre of the timber, and hence its value 
 over all other so-called preservative agents. 
 
 For land purposes, the amount of oil recommended is 
 eight lbs. to the cubic foot of wood, and for marine pur- 
 poses, from 10 to 12 lbs. per cubic foot. In France, Bel- 
 gium, and Holland, the quantity used varies from 16 lbs. 
 to 26 lbs. per cubic foot, when the timber is intended for 
 marine works. Beech wood has absorbed as much as 31 
 lbs. of oil per cubic foot, and when used for railway plat- 
 forms or harbor works, it is doubtless the cheapest and 
 most durable material that can be used. 
 
 Creosote (or pitch oil, as it is more commonly called 
 in Scotland) is obtained in the distillation of coal tar, 
 the other ingredients being ammoniacal liquor, crude 
 naphtha, and the residual pitch. The coal tar of Scotch 
 gas works, generally yields about 25 per cent of oil, which 
 distils over at temperatures ranging from 4000 to 70O0 
 fahr. ; in England, however, the amount is only about 20 
 per cent. The author estimates the annual yield of pitch 
 oil, in Scotland, at one million gallons, almost the whole 
 of which is used for creosoting purposes. It is probable 
 that creosote owes its valuable antiseptic property to the 
 presence in it of from five to fourteen per cent of crude 
 carbolic acid, but which could not be used by itself for 
 outdoor purposes, as it is slightly soluble in water. 
 
 According to Dr. Letheby, creosote acts as a preserva- 
 tive agent in the following ways : 
 
 1st. It coagulates albuminous substances and gives sta- 
 bility to the constituents of the cambium and cellulose 
 of the young wood. 
 
i9 
 
 2d. It absorbs and appropriates the oxygen which is 
 within the pores of the wood, and so checks, or rather 
 prevents the eremacausis of the ligneous tissue. 
 
 3d. It resinifies within the pores of the wood, and in 
 this way shuts out both air and moisture. 
 
 4th. It acts as a positive poison to the lower forms of 
 animal and vegetable life, and so protects the wood from 
 the attacks of fungi, acari, and other parasites. 
 
 Since the creosoting process was first introduced in the 
 year 1838, it has been extensively employed in Great 
 Britain and England ; in all countries on the continent 
 where creosote oil can be obtained — France, Holland, 
 Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy; and in 
 India, Cape Colony, Brazil, and other tropical countries, 
 to preserve timber from the attacks of the white ant. — 
 Wherever it has been properly carried out it has been 
 completely successful. 
 
 For harbor works in Scotland the creosoting process 
 has been largely used. At Leith, the west pier, consisting 
 of 1,013 main piles, is entirely constructed of creosoted 
 timber, and the extension of the east pier contains 312 
 main piles, also creosoted. These erections were com- 
 menced in 1848, and finished in 1853, ^^^ ^^ ^^^ present 
 time they are as perfectly sound as the first day they were 
 put down. . The gates of the new dock, now being con- 
 structed at that port, are made of creosoted pine, bound with 
 greenheart timber, the quantity of oil used being 10 lbs. 
 per cubic foot. At Port-Glasgow and Greenock, timber 
 prepared by the Bethell process, is largely used, and the 
 same is true of nearly every port of England. Much at- 
 tention^has been given to the creosoting process by the'Bel- 
 gian Government, and so satisfactory have the experiments 
 been that no other process is used by that government. 
 
20 
 
 Very full and interesting accounts of the Belgian exper- 
 iments, upon the creosoting process, have been prepared 
 by M. L. Crepin, ingenieur des Fonts et Chausees, espe- 
 cially in " Annalles des Travaux Publics de Belgique, " 
 vol. xxi., 1864. M. Crepin affirms that wood retains all 
 its former elasticity in the creosoted state, and acquires a 
 density which it did not possess in the unprepared con- 
 dition. M. A. Forestier, engineer-in-chief for the depart- 
 ment of La Vendee, made a very minute and elaborate 
 report for the Paris Exhibition of 1867 on the creosoting 
 process and experiments made with it on timber used in 
 both land and marine works in France ; and in that coun- 
 try the process is also largely employed. 
 
21 
 
 Dr. Ure, in his " Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, 
 
 AND Mines," 
 says, in regard to creosoting, that it " consists in 
 impregnating wood throughout with oil of tar and other 
 bituminous matters containing creosote, and also with 
 pyrolignite of iron, which holds more creosote in solution 
 than any other watery menstruum. 
 
 " The effect produced is that of perfectly coagulating 
 the albumen in the sap, thus preventing its putrefaction. 
 For the wood that will be much exposed to the weather, 
 and alternately wet and dry, the mere coagulation of the 
 sap is not sufficient ; for although the albumen contained 
 in the sap of the wood is the most liable and the first to 
 putrefy, yet the ligneous fibre itself, after it has been 
 deprived of all sap, will, when exposed in a warm, damp 
 situation, rot and crumble into dust. To preserve wood, 
 therefore, that will be much exposed to the weather, it is 
 not only necessary that the sap should be coagulated, but 
 that the fibres should be protected from moisture, which 
 is effectually done by this process. 
 
 " The atmospheric action on wood thus prepared ren- 
 ders it tougher, and infinitely stronger. A post made of 
 beech, or even of Scotch fir, is rendered more durable, 
 and as strong as one made of the best oak, the bitumin- 
 ous mixture with which all its pores are filled acting as a 
 cement to bind the fibres together in a close, tough mass ; 
 and the more porous the wood is, the more durable and 
 tough it becomes, as it imbibes a greater quantity of the 
 bituminous oil, which is proved by its increased weight. 
 The materials which are injected preserve iron and other 
 metals from corrosion ; and an iron bolt driven into wood 
 so saturated, remains perfectly sound and free from rust. 
 
22 
 
 It also resists the attack of insects ; and it has been 
 proved by Mr. Pritchard, at Shoreham Harbor, that the 
 teredo navalis (or naval worm) will not touch it. 
 
 '• Wood thus prepared for sleepers, piles, posts, fenc- 
 ing, etc., is not at all affected by alternate exposure to wet 
 and dry; it requires no painting, and after it has been 
 exposed to the air for some days, it loses every unpleas- 
 ant smell. 
 
 " This process has been adopted by the following 
 eminent engineers, viz. : Mr. Robert Stephenson, Mr. 
 Brunei, Mr. Bidder, Mr. Brathwaite, Mr. Buck, Mr. 
 Harris, Mr. Wickstead, Mr, Pritchard, and others ; and 
 has been used with the greatest success on the Great 
 Western Railway, the Bristol and Exeter Railway, the 
 Manchester and Birmingham Railway, the Northeast- 
 ern, the Southeastern, the Stockton and Darlington, and 
 at Shoreham Harbor ; and lately, in consequence of the 
 excellent appearance of the prepared sleepers, after three 
 years' exposure to the weather, an order has been issued 
 by Mr. Robert Stephenson that the sleepers hereafter to 
 be used on the London and Birmingham Railway are to 
 be prepared with it before being put down. 
 
 " For railway sleepers it is highly useful, as the com- 
 monest Scotch fir sleeper, when thus prepared, will last 
 for centuries. Those which have been in use three years 
 and upward, look much better now than when first laid 
 down, having become harder, more consolidated, and per- 
 fectly water-proof; which qualities, combined with that of 
 perfectly resisting the worm, render this process eminently 
 useful for piles, and all other woodwork placed under 
 water. 
 
 " Posts for gates or fencing, if prepared in this manner, 
 
23 
 
 may be made of Scotch fir, or the cheapest wood that 
 can be obtained, and will not decay like oak posts, which 
 invariably become rotten near the earth after a few years." 
 
24 
 
 PROF. J. V. Z. BLANEY, 
 
 OF Rush Medical College, Chicago. 
 
 The statements below, numbering from i to 9, with 
 regard to the preservation of wood, with the proofs and 
 samples of the creosoted wood, having been submitted to 
 Prof J. V. Z. Blaney, were examined by that distinguished 
 chemist, and the following report made : 
 
 Chicago, yanuary 22, 1870. 
 W. T. PELTON, Esq., Room 9, No, 164 Washington Street: 
 
 Dear Sir — Your statement and specimens of your creosoted wood have 
 been critically examined by me. Whatever of your statements coincide 
 with my opinion I will fully endorse, and any exceptions I may find will be 
 mentioned. 
 
 In the preservation of wood which is exposed, certain conditions are 
 necessary : 
 
 1. The sap must be removed, and 
 
 the albumen or any other substance Your first statement I fully en- 
 
 capable of acting as a ferment coagu- dorse, 
 lated. 
 
 With regard to your second state- 
 ment, I can say I consider it as true, 
 if applied to preservation by mineral 
 substances, but exceeds the require- 
 
 2. The pores must be so filled ments which are demanded by the 
 with the preservative substance that use of what is commercially known 
 no water or air can enter them. as creosote, or dead oil, containing 
 
 carbolic and cresylic acids and resin- 
 ous bodies capable of combining with 
 and removing oxygen, and of repell- 
 ing moisture. 
 
 3. No substance will effectually As to your statement No. 3, I fully 
 prevent the entrance of water and endorse it. This is a point fully settled 
 air, which is itself soluble in water, by all competent chemists. My ex- 
 or has such an attraction for moisture periments with ordinary pine wood, 
 as to be readily miscible with it. as compared with your prepared 
 
 wood, fully demonstrate it. 
 
25 
 
 The Seely process consists in sub- 
 jecting the wood to be saturated to 
 a temperature of about 260 degrees 
 while in a bath of creosote oil, for a 
 sufficient time to expel all the mois- 
 ture, and to coagulate the albumin- 
 ous matters of the wood. When the 
 pores are thus freed from the water 
 and contain only steam, a cold bath 
 is substituted, so as to reduce the 
 temperature from 260 to 65 or 70 de- 
 grees, by means of which change the 
 steam in the pores of the wood is 
 condensed, and a vacuum formed, 
 into which the oil is forced by atmos- 
 pheric pressure. 
 
 The sap can be most thoroughly 
 removed by means of heat, and the 
 application of heat through the me- 
 dium of a liquid is preferable, be- 
 cause, while it is not so excessive 
 (being about 260 degrees) as to injure 
 the fibre of the wood, it is sufficient 
 to vaporize the water and coagulate 
 the albumen of the sap, and thus the 
 cause of decay is destroyed. 
 
 Crude creosote, or dead oil, was 
 first used by Bethell, in England, 
 in 1838, for impregnating wood, and 
 has been found, by experience, to be 
 the most effective substance yet em- 
 ployed, on account of the carbolic 
 and cresylic acid it contains, and be- 
 cause it entirely fills the pores of the 
 wood ; not only excluding the en- 
 trance of moisture, but, as it solidifies 
 by age, it increases the compactness 
 of the whole structure, and thus 
 renders it less liable to wear. 
 
 When the vapor of the oil alone is 
 introduced, the pores of the wood are 
 not filled when the wood becomes 
 cold, because by submitting the wood 
 to a vapor bath, the pores will only 
 take the same volume of vapor as 
 they would of oil if submitted to an 
 oil bath, and when that volume of 
 vapor in the pores is condensed upon 
 the cooling of the timber, the space 
 it will fill in the pores will be about 
 1,300 times less than if the liquid bath 
 had been used — because one cubic 
 inch of oil will make about 1,300 cubic 
 inches of vapor — and the remaining 
 space in the pores will be open and 
 ready to absorb water or vapor of 
 water when exposed. 
 
 No substance soluble in water will 
 remain long in wood which is ex- 
 
 The remaining portion of your 
 document is for the most part an 
 explanation of your own and other 
 processes. I coincide with the views 
 stated therein in regard to the advan- 
 tages of the Seely process over others. 
 
26 
 
 posed. This is readily seen by im- 
 mersing in water, wood thus treated, 
 for even a short time, when the water 
 will be found to contain the materials 
 that were put into the wood. It is 
 claimed in the process in which 
 sulphate of iron and lime are used, 
 that steam is first employed to re- 
 move the sap. This can only have the 
 effect to vaporize the watery por- 
 tion ; the fermenting matter still re- 
 mains in the wood. Next, that the 
 pores are filled with a solution of 
 sulphate of iron. Now, the pores be- 
 ing thus filled, this solution must be 
 displaced to make room for the solu- 
 tion of lime which follows, thus pre- 
 venting that complete precipitation 
 in the pores caused by the mixture of 
 the two solutions which it is claimed 
 gives it value ; but admitting the fact 
 that this precipate is formed in the 
 pores of the wood, the quantity of the 
 precipitate is so minu^te as to hardly 
 be discovered, the remaining spaces 
 in the wood being, of course, filled 
 with water, which dries out by heat 
 and returns again when the wood is 
 exposed to moisture, and thus, by the 
 action of the elements, what sulphate 
 of iron and lime ever was in the 
 wood is removed, and the wood is in 
 its original condition for decay. 
 
 The action of carbolic and cresylic 
 acids in connection with dead oil in 
 preventing all kinds of decomposi- 
 tion, is too well appreciated and 
 understood for me to enlarge upon it. 
 
 In conclusion, the claims'are : 
 
 1. That by the " Seely process" 
 the sap is most completely removed 
 by n.eans of the liquid bath and the 
 peculiar construction of the appara- 
 tus. 
 
 2. That the albumen is coagulated. 
 
 With regard to the claims which 
 you make at the close of your state- 
 ment, considering them seriatim, I 
 remark with regard to claim No. i, 
 that this claim is indisputable. 
 
 Claim No. 2, 
 no doubt. 
 
 Of this there can be 
 
 3. That the best material known is 
 used, judging from experience, and 
 the opinions of scientific men. 
 
 Claim No. 3. With reference to this 
 claim, which makes a comparison 
 between yours and other processes, 
 I would remark that the materials 
 which you use may be accepted as 
 identical with those used by Bethell, 
 in England, since 1838, the results of 
 which have met the approval of the 
 most eminent engineers and con- 
 structors. While your process can 
 
27 
 
 claim all that is due to the Bethell 
 process, it has the advantage in this : 
 That by your mode of operating, you 
 effect the more complete removal of 
 the sap, the more complete coagula- 
 tion of the ferments, and the more 
 complete saturation of the wood. 
 
 4. That the pores of the wood are 
 filled. 
 
 5. That the carbolic and cresylic 
 acids, are valuable in pavements as 
 a sanitary agent. 
 
 To substantiate claim No. 4, I 
 made certain experiments, of which 
 the following are the results : 
 
 1st. That on examination with the 
 microscope, using powers from 150 
 to 300 diameters, every pore in the 
 wood, whether large or sma,ll, was 
 found to be completely filled with 
 oil, and this in shavings, taken near 
 the centre of the paving block. 
 
 2d. That the weight of a prepared 
 cube, containing eight cubic inches, 
 was 2,456 grains, while that of a 
 block not so prepared, and of the 
 same quality of wood, and of equal 
 size, was 1,126 grains, proving that 
 1,330 grains of the dead oil had been 
 introduced into the block, and as 
 much more as would be equal to the 
 amount of sap extracted by your pro- 
 cess. Thus, by calculation, the 
 amount of oil contained in the block 
 would exceed 41-4-100 lbs., equal 
 to 4-82-100 gallons per cubic foot, by 
 an amount of oil equal to the weight 
 of the sap. This amount of oil has 
 greater weight than the wood itself — 
 the oil weighing 81-2 lbs. per gallon. 
 My own opinion is, that the quantity 
 of oil contained in the prepared 
 blocks was considerably more than 
 was necessary either for the preserva- 
 tion of the wood or for sanitary pur- 
 poses. 
 
 With reference to claim No. 5, all 
 that is necessary to say is, that this 
 claim is fully substantiated, both by 
 the evidence and experience of men 
 eminent in the medical profession, 
 and as chemists, everywhere. This 
 claim is indisputable. 
 
 6. That the wood is sufficiently 
 impervious to moisture to prevent 
 its decay. 
 
 As regards claim No. 6. Both by 
 theory and from experiments, made 
 by myself, I am entirely satisfied that 
 the blocks prepared at your works 
 are made more impervious to mois- 
 ture than by any other process. 
 This is due to the fact that the oil. 
 
28 
 
 7. That the wood is caused to wear 
 longen 
 
 8. That the only works in the coun- 
 try, which have done practical work 
 for any considerable length of time, 
 have been those operating under the 
 Seely process. 
 
 9. That this process being con- 
 ducted by the use of steam, for heat- 
 ing, and by using the oil in its liquid 
 state, it is free from those dangers of 
 fire and explosion which occur where 
 a direct fire is used, by which the oil 
 is vaporized. 
 
 not being miscible with water, repels 
 moisture from the pores of the wood. 
 
 Referring to claim No. 7. By the- 
 ory, this claim should be correct ; but 
 the experience of practical men is of 
 more value than the opinion of a 
 chemist. 
 
 The fact embodied in your 8th 
 claim is a matter of history which 
 can be readily proved. 
 
 The gth claim, in my opinion, is 
 well founded. 
 
 In conclusion, I would say that I have carefully examined the numerous 
 certificates submitted to me by you, which represent the opinions of eminent 
 chemists, and of practical engineers in this country and in Europe, with ref- 
 erence to the process of Prof. Charles A. Seely for preservation-of wood ; and 
 without hesitation, I can assert that more full or complete evidence of the 
 value of a patent process for a similar object I have never seen, nor do I 
 think could be accumulated. In this remark, I refer not onl)^ to the fact that 
 the several certificates fully cover all the grounds of your claims, but also 
 that the scientific gentlemen who have given their names as endorsers of the 
 value of this mode of preservation of wood f^a number of whom are known 
 to me personally, and most of the others by reputation^ stand among the 
 very first of those whose opinions are entitled to be treated as authorities be- 
 yond dispute, and whose sincerity, caution, and incorruptibility are beyond 
 the possible range of cavil. 
 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 
 JAMES V. Z. BLANEY, 
 
 Professor of Cfiemistry, Rush Medical College, and Consulting Chemist 
 
A-UTECORITIES 
 
 ON THE USE OF CREOSOTE OIL IN 
 
 Railway Construction. 
 
 EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. 
 
 For the past thirty years crude creosote oil has been 
 extensively employed in Europe in the treatment of rail- 
 way and dock timbers, as follows : 
 
 In England, 
 
 Upon the London and Northwestern — Southwestern — 
 Great Western — Great Eastern — Southeastern — North- 
 eastern — London and Brighton — Lancashire and York- 
 shire — Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire — the TafF 
 Vale — London, Chatham and Dover — Midland — Great 
 Northern — Furness Railway — Berwick Railway — Bristol 
 and Exeter — Stockton and Darlington, &c., &c. 
 
 In Scotland, 
 
 On the Caledonian — Great Northern — Scottish Northeast- 
 ern — Edinburg and Glasgow — North British — South- 
 western — Dundee and Perth. &c., &c. 
 
 In Ireland, 
 
 On the Great Southern and Western — the Midland — the 
 Dublin and Drogheda — Dundalk and Enniskillen, &c., 
 &c. 
 
^6 
 
 In Belgium, 
 
 All sleepers on the State Railway (except oak) are re- 
 quired to be creosoted, and great care is taken to see that 
 the sleepers absorb a large quantity of the oil. 
 
 In Holland, 
 
 The creosoting process has been adopted to the same ex- 
 tent as in Belgium. 
 
 In Germany and Prussia, 
 
 Its use on railways is quite general ; and in India, Cape 
 of Good Hope, Brazil, and other tropical countries, it is 
 used to preserve timber from the white ant — and wherever 
 properly used has been completely succes.sful. Much of 
 the timber on the above-mentioned railways has been 
 down from twenty-five to thirty years, and is now as 
 sound and free from decay as when first laid down. It 
 is also found to have acquired extraordinary hardness and 
 solidity, and to have preserved from rust all the surfaces 
 of the iron bolts and fastenings in contact with it. 
 
 The average duration of an uncreosoted fir sleeper be- 
 ing less than eight years, it will be seen that many creo- 
 soted fir sleepers upon English railways have already out- 
 lasted three sets of uncreosoted sleepers, and may yet 
 outlast several more sets. The late Mr, Brunei expressed 
 a confident opinion that well-creosoted fir sleepers would 
 be perfectly sound after the lapse of forty years, and this 
 opinion bids fair to be verified. 
 
 For Marine Piers and Breakwaters, 
 
 Creosoting has enabled engineers to use ordinary Baltic 
 timber (similar in character to American hemlock and 
 
3^ 
 
 spruce) freely in these constructions, with the greatest 
 cheapness and absolute confidence in its durabihty. 
 
 The Breakwater and Piers "^ 
 
 At Holyhead, Portland, Lowestoft, Great Grimsby, 
 Leith, Plymouth, Wisbeach, Southampton, &c., &c., have 
 been built with creosoted timber, and in no case have 
 the teredo navalis, limnoria terebrans^ or any other marine 
 worms or insects, which rapidly devour unprepared wood, 
 been found to destroy it. 
 
 For Telegraph Poles, 
 
 Mine props, hop poles, and grapevine trellises, creosoted 
 wood has been used with great success. 
 
LETTER 
 
 From Mr. G. S. Page, of New York. 
 
 Giving Results of his Observation and Information obtained 
 recently iti Europe. 
 
 New York, May 28, 1870. 
 
 Sir — In reply to your inquiries concerning the preservation of wood in 
 Europe, I beg to say, that one of the principal objects of my recent trip 
 abroad was to obtain full and accurate information upon this most important 
 subject. 
 
 My investigations were conducted in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, 
 Belgium, Prussia, Russia, and Austria, and were continued for nearly four 
 months. 
 
 I found that but three processes have ever met with any favor or been used 
 to any extent, viz.: Kyanizing, Burnettizing, and Creosoting. The first named 
 is the term applied to the injection into the pores of the wood of a solution 
 of corrosive sublimate ; the second is a similar use of chloride of zinc, and 
 the latter is the application of crude creosote oil or the heavy oil of coal tar. 
 With but a single exception, I found that the material now universally used 
 was crude creosote oil, it having been proved to be a perfect preventive ot 
 decay and the only material that fully accomplishes that result. 
 
 The principal uses to which creosoting was applied were for railroad ties, 
 telegraph and hop poles, fencing, piles and dock timber, and lumber used in 
 coal and iron mines. 
 
 On several of the roads I traveled over, I found creosoted ties were already 
 over twenty years in use, and still sound as when first laid. 
 
 Baltic fir — a timber resembling American hemlock — is generally emplo3'ed 
 for ties in Europe. When creosoted, it lasts without decay, as above stated ; 
 while, uncreosoted, it decays in from three to four years. 
 
 The spikes driven into these creosoted ties show no corrosion whatever 
 after this lapse of time, and the rail is consequently held more firmly to the 
 tie. 
 
 I found the density of the wood much increased by the action of the oil, 
 the fir ties acquiring almost the density of our oak. 
 
 The use of these creosoted Baltic ties is almost universal upon the following, 
 among other roads which I observed, many of which have a heavier and more 
 constant traffic than the average of American railroads, viz.: Lancashire and 
 Yorkshire — London and Northwestern — London, Chatham and Dover — 
 Midland — Dublin and Drogheda — Midland Great Western of Ireland — Great 
 Southern of Ireland — Great Northern of France ; and the railways compos- 
 ing the lines from Paris to St. Petersburg, via Cologne and Berlin — 
 Berlin to Vienna via Dresden and Prague — Vienna to Paris, via Munich 
 and Strasbourg — and Paris to Brussels. 
 
 Creosote oil, in the treatment of wood, was first employed in 1838, and 
 has grown rapidly in favor until, at the present day, it is adopted all over 
 Europe, and is recommended by the most eminent engineers and scientific 
 men. Indeed, creosoted timber is the rule in railroad construction, and native 
 wood the exception. — 
 
 The next use in importance of creosoted wood was in the construction of 
 piers, docks, breakwaters, &c.; and here it is found to be the only inlallible 
 protection against the ravages of the teredo navalis, that dreaded marine worm. 
 
 Piles sheathed with copper and iron, or studded with flat nails, have been 
 employed from time to time in marine works ; but even these costly means 
 have been found to be no safeguard against the worm. But creosoted tim- 
 ber has so perfectly answered its purpose that it is now exclusively employed 
 in works of this character. Marine worms of all kinds fail to make the least 
 
33 
 
 impression upon it. It is a poison to them, and at the same time the wood 
 neither checks nor decays above water. -'— 
 
 My observation on this class of structures was quite extensive ; and in no 
 case has properly creosoted wood, so employed, failed to give complete sat- 
 isfaction. * 
 
 The usual quantity of creosote oil required in marine structures is from six 
 to nine pounds per cubic foot. 
 
 My extended observation abroad, of the actual results of creosoting wood, 
 and the experience of engineers with whom I have communicated, have 
 satisfied me that this subject has passed out of the region of theory and ex- 
 periment, and is now a practical fact. Creosote oil is the only efficient mate- 
 rial to accomplish the result, and is actually the only one used in operations 
 of any importance. 
 
 I send j'ou herewith some sections of railway ties, by which you will see 
 the sound condition of creosoted wood after twenty-three years' service. 
 They are average specimens. I also send copies of some letters I have re- 
 ceived from Mr. Badge and others upon this subject, which but express the 
 Opinion of the leading railway managers whom I met. 
 
 I must say, in conclusion, that an experience so thorough and exhaustive, 
 with results so satisfactory, should be accepted as sufficient, and that we 
 should wait for no similar experiments here to convince us of the economy, 
 as well as practicability, of preserving our timber by the use of creosote oil. 
 
 Yours, &c,, 
 
 GEORGE SHEPARD PAGE. 
 
 YORKSHIRE & LANCASHIRE RAILWAY. 
 
 Manchester, August lt\th, 1865. 
 
 Dear Sir — I commenced creosoting timber in 1846, and for some months 
 marked the ends of the sleepers with a V tool. Some thousands were so 
 done in order that I might the more readily watch them, and trace the 
 result.* 
 
 Last month I visited a portion of the line which had been laid with these 
 sleepers in 1846, and I am glad to be able to report that the whole are as 
 
 FRESH AND SOUND AS WHEN FIRST LAID DOWN, NOT THE LEAST SIGN OF 
 DECAY BEING APPARENT. 
 
 During a period extending over upward of nineteen years T have creo- 
 soted about one million of sleepers, and large quantities of timber of various 
 kinds, and from all my experience, gained during that time, I would strongly 
 recomnjend to be creosoted all timber to be placed in exposed situations, 
 such as sleepers, telegraph posts, lamp posts, fencing, &c., &c. 
 
 I remain, dear sir, j^ours very truly, 
 
 R. J. BADGE. 
 
 P. S. — The creosoted road generally wears out three or four sets of rails in, 
 as well as out of, tunnels ; and when the main line is relaid, and such sleep- 
 ers are taken out, they are used again for sidings and branches. I find that 
 about one per cent, get split at the ends, and so rendered useless for their 
 original purpose, but they are then sold for gate posts, fencing, &c., and are 
 much sought after. 
 
 * These sleepers are now in use and perfectly sound, as will be seen b}-^ 
 the letter which follows. Sections of these sleepers, which are also referred 
 to in Mr. Badge's letter of February 3, 1870, can be seen at our offices. 
 
34 
 
 StoYe Keeper'' s Office, Manchester, Feb. 3, 1870. 
 G. S. PAGE, ESQ. : 
 
 Dear Sir — In accordance with my promise, I have sent you a small hampen 
 containing three or four sample-ends of creosoted sleepers, which were 
 tanked under my superintendence in the year 1846. I have sent you two 
 ends marked with a X, thus — one shows the solid heart of the wood ; the 
 larger one shows a proportion of sap, which is equally well preserved as the 
 hearty one. Note that sappy timber takes much more creosote than the heart, 
 or solid timber, on account of the pores of the wood being more open. The 
 two unmarked pieces is the next cut to the one with a X, to enable you to see 
 what a pressure can effect by filling the pores. I should recommend ten 
 pounds per cubic foot to each sleeper — that is, if the sleeper is three feet 
 there should be three gallons in each. I do not think I have anything more 
 that I can communicate to you at present, but I may remark that some three 
 years ago some of the leading lines discontinued creosoting. I have just 
 received a letter, stating that some of the uncreosoted sleepers that had been 
 recently laid are showing strong symiptoms of decay, and I believe Mr.Bethell's 
 orders are becoming pressing. I believe that all our railway companies will 
 see the great benefit that must arise from the use of creosote. Should you 
 require any further information, you can write to me, and I shall be most 
 happy to afford it at any time. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 R. J. BADGE. 
 
 MIDLAND & GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Engineer's Office, Jan. 8, 1870. 
 
 Dear Sir — In reply to your inquiries as to my experience of the 
 practice of creosoting sleepers, I beg to state that I have seen this 
 mode of preparation in use for the last fourteen years, and that I have em- 
 ployed it myself on the railways under my charge for the last nine years, and 
 that I am now using it extensively in the renewal and repairs of this system 
 of railways, having a mileage of nearly 400 miles. We have purchased 
 60,000 sleepers of red Baltic fir, creosoted according to the specifications 
 within, during the past year. My opinion is, that all timber having sap-wood 
 to any extent requires this process ; the sap-wood is thus converted into a 
 hard water-proof covering, instead of a decomposing mass; — in the former 
 case, the heart-wood is protected ; in the latter, decay is favored. I have 
 seen home-grown timber of soft fir and chestnut, which had been down for 
 over ten years, so hard and compact on the surface that a knife could not 
 penetrate it, and I believe the sleepers I then saw will last ten years longer. 
 I have never yet seen on any railway in Ireland (several of which I have been 
 employed 10 report on) a single decayed creosoted sleeper. Where timber 
 contains no sap-wood (unless spruce, other white deals, and beech, all of 
 which require creosoting), such as memel or hard larch, grown on 
 stony ground, it is unnecessar)'- to use creosote ; the oil will not enter the 
 pores already filled with resin. To gain the full benefit of the process, the 
 timber should be thoroughly seasoned and dried, in which case the oil will 
 permeate longitudinally, when under proper pressure, the whole ring of sap- 
 wood — so that it will be found in the centre of the length of the sleeper, as 
 well as at the ends. A well-dried sleeper, with a ring of one and a half 
 inches of sap-wood, will take up from seven to ten pounds of oil per cubic 
 foot of timber (counting heart and sap). Believe me, dear sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 JAMES PRICE. 
 To G. S. PAGE, ESQ., New York. 
 
35 
 
 DUBLIN & DROGHEDA RAILWAY. 
 
 Engineer' s Department, Dtiblin, yan. 7, 1870. 
 
 GEORGE S. PAGE, ESQ., Shelbourne Hotel : 
 
 Dear Sir — The sleepers used on this line for nine years are almost exclu- 
 sively red-wood from the Baltic, either 12x6 or 10x5, and nine feet long. For 
 about the last six or seven years all have been creosoted with not less than 
 seven pounds of oil, and commonlj^ much more, to the cubic foot. I have 
 not yet found in the line an unsound creosoted sleeper that I had not reason 
 to know was unsound before being creosoted, and even in such a case the 
 creosoting seemed to have the effect of stopping the deca}' ; the cost at present 
 to us of creosoting is one shilling per sleeper for joints (12x6), and eight- 
 pence half-penny per sleeper (10x5) for middles. Lines that can rot out 
 their sleepers such as this, have great advantage from creosoting ; but there 
 are lines, the rails of which, from being unsteady on the sleepers, chafe 
 them, to whom creosote is of no value, because their sleepers wear out in- 
 stead of lasting long enough to rot. I send you a pamphlet sent me 5'ears 
 ago by Mr. Bethell, which you may find useful. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 MARCUS HARTY. 
 
 CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY RAILROAD. 
 
 General Sziperintendenf s Office, Chicago, May ii\th, 1870. 
 
 Sir — In answer to yours of May nth, I would say, that we have used the 
 Seely process for treating ties, planking for stock-car floors, and station 
 platforms, having commenced about two years and a half ago. 
 
 The statements of European engineers and constructors as to the practi- 
 cal effect of creosote in preserving wood, agree so entirely with those of 
 our own most distinguished chemists, that I have had no doubt of the 
 economy of using it, if it could be simplj-- and inexpensively applied. 
 
 This is accomplished by the Seely process, which also disposes of the 
 albumen of the sap — the source of decay — by cooking it. 
 
 The question of the durability of ties is becoming to Western roads one 
 of very great importance. It is already difficult to procure oak in sufficient 
 quantities, and this difficulty will become greater as Roads increase. This 
 will drive us to the hemlock of Michigan and Canada, and if by the use 
 of creosote these can be made as durable as oak, we need not give ourselves 
 any anxiety for years. 
 
 Enough time has not elapsed to indicate its effect upon those treated two 
 years and a half ago, but I shall be much disappointed if, at the end of five 
 years (which is as long as I would expect them to last without being 
 treated) they are not as free from decay as now. 
 
 On our Western roads the maintenance of fences and pile work is a very 
 large item, and I have no doubt creosoting will be largely used for these 
 purposes. 
 
 I am fully satisfied as to the benefits of treating soft wood in this manner, 
 when it is to be exposed to moisture, and where the odor that attaches to 
 the wood does not make its use objectionable. We are constantly using it 
 on certain kinds of rough work. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 ROBERT HARRIS, 
 
 General Stipeiintendent. 
 
36 
 
 LONDON & NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY. 
 
 Fertnanent Way Department, 
 Head Office, Stafford, July i-ltk, 1856. 
 
 Sir — In answer to your letter requesting information (for the use of the 
 Commissioners of the Exposition about to be opened at Brussels) as to the 
 success of your creosoting process in preserving railway sleepers, I have to 
 inform you that about seventeen miles of the railway from Manchester to 
 Crewe, belonging to this Cornpany, are laid with creosoted American fir 
 sleepers. Part of these were laid in 1840, and the rest in 1842, since which 
 time we have not had one instance in which decay has been detected in 
 these creosoted sleepers ; and upon our relaying the line, we have used 
 over again all the old creosoted sleepers that were not split, instead of new 
 sleepers. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 HENRY WOODHOUSE. 
 
 BRISTOL & EXETER RAILWAY. 
 
 Bridgewater, August 2?ith, 1856. 
 
 Sir — I have for the last seven to eight years been constantly engaged as 
 superintendent over the carpenters employed in keeping in repair the wood 
 bridges on the Bristol and Exeter Railway. 
 
 In many of these bridges a great deal of your creosoted timber was used, 
 which has been in use now upward of fourteen years, and I can testify that 
 every piece of creosoted wood in them is now perfectly sound and free from 
 decay. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 • ' JOHN DYER. 
 
 GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY. 
 
 Great Eastern Railway, yuly idth, 1856. 
 
 Sir — I have been lourteen years engaged in superintending the perma- 
 nent wa)'^ of the Eastern Counties Railway, near Burnt Mill Station, and 
 have during the whole of that time constantl)'' observed the creosoted Scotch 
 fir sleepers laid down there in May, 1840. 
 
 I can fully testify that the whole of those sleepers are now as sound and 
 perfect as when laid down, and the creosote oil seems as fresh in them now 
 as ever. 
 
 I have sent you herewith some specimens of those sleepers, and all the 
 sleepers are as good as these specimens. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 SAMUEL DAWSON. 
 
37 
 
 DUTCH-RHENISH RAILWAY. 
 
 Driebergeii, i^th April, 1858. 
 
 Sir — In answer to your inquiry relative to the timber prepared according 
 to your process, the so-called " Creosoting Process," I beg to inform you 
 that in the year 1844, during the construction of our line, 10,561 cubic 
 metres of timber were creosoted at Utrecht, and laid between Utrecht and 
 Veenendaal, the oil for which, distilled and delivered by you, has proved 
 of the best quality. 
 
 In 1855-57, with the extension of our line to Germany, in connection 
 with the Cologne and Minden Railway, and consequent alteration to the 
 narrow guage, the timber creosoted and laid in 1844 was taken up and 
 found as sound and perfect as when first laid, and consequently used over 
 again, while uncreosoted timber close by has been obliged to be renewed 
 two or three times during the same period. 
 
 We fully expect the same favorable result from the timber required for 
 our extensive works in course of construction at Rotterdam, now creoso- 
 ting, and during the past year creosoted at your creosoting establishment at 
 Fijnord, Rotterdam. 
 
 I remain, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 G. FREEM, 
 
 Chief Inspector, Dutch-Rhenish Railway. 
 
 CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND QUINCY RAILROAD CO, 
 
 Superintendent' s Office, Car Departf/ieni, 
 Attroi'a, December '&, 1869. 
 WM. TIIiDBN PBliTON, ESQ.: 
 
 Dear Sir — In reply to yours, asking for my opinion regarding your system 
 of preserving wood, by the " creosoting process," I would say, that after a 
 trial of nearly two years, during which time its efficiency has been thoroughly 
 tested by various experiments, I give it my unqualified approval as being 
 the best method of preserving timber that I have ever known. So well sat- 
 isfied are we of its value, that we are now .treating all our car flooring, as 
 well as all material for station platforms. Our limited facilities do not al- 
 low us to treat all our ties at present, but expect to have works large enough 
 for this, by spring. Wishing you every success, I remain, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 W. W. WILCOX, 
 
 Superintendent Wood-work and Car Department. 
 
3B 
 COLOGNE AND MINDEN RAILWAY. 
 
 Hitherto it has not been necessary to renew any of the 
 sleepers or timbers used in bridges that were impregnated 
 with creosote oil, the sleepers that were laid down in 1849 
 being in as good condition as ever. On the Dutch rail- 
 ways, also, creosoted sleepers have proved very durable for 
 twelve years, and creosoted timber has been employed 
 there also for water-works. — -Eisenbahnzeiiung^ No. 29, 1857. 
 
 PUBLIC WORKS IN BELGIUM. 
 
 In the report presented by the Minister of Public 
 Works in Belgium, in May, 1863, to the Legislative As- 
 sembly, respecting the operations of the State railways 
 in the year 1862, it is stated as follows : 
 
 Page 12. — " In 1862 a special commission was insti- 
 tuted to determine the state of preservation of the sleepers 
 which, before being put into use, have been the object of 
 preparations destined to prolong their duration. The re- 
 sult of this commission has been to persuade the Govern- 
 ment to give up entirely the process Boucherie, and for 
 the future to abide by the using — 1st, of oak sleepers in 
 their natural state, or which have been submitted to the 
 preparation of the creosote oils; 2d, of beech sleepers, 
 or red pine, prepared after the same process." 
 
 In the spring of 1865 a very careful examination was 
 made by the authorities of all the creosoted sleepers, and 
 they found that all these sleepers (although some of them 
 had been in use 19 years) were perfectly sound and fresh, 
 and in consequence the Belgian Government decided to 
 have all their sleepers creosoted in future. 
 
39 
 
 LONDON INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERS 
 
 At a meeting of the Institute of (Civil Engineers in 
 London, in May, 1850, Mr. Brunei and Mr. Hawkshaw, 
 the eminent engineers, remarked as follows : 
 
 Mr. Brunei believed that longitudinal timbers, thor- 
 oughly creosoted and properly put together, were at least 
 as durable as the iron rails; and he might even say that, 
 under certain circumstances, the timber would last the 
 longest. He believed that, with fair usage, the timber 
 would be more durable than the iron, so that he did not 
 agree in the desirability of abandoning timber and adopt- 
 ing iron for sleepers. 
 
 He must expressly state his convictions, that, at the 
 expiration oi forty years ^ well-creosoted longitudinal tim- 
 bers would be found in a sound and serviceable condition. 
 
 Mr. Hawkshaw had arrived at the conclusion that 
 well-creosoted longitudinal timber sleepers, with heavy 
 malleable iron rails, formed the best and most durable 
 line : it was the cheapest in the first cost and in subse- 
 quent maintenance, and was le'ast injurious to the rolling- 
 stock. — Institution of Civil Engineers' Minut&s^ Vol. ix., pp. 
 
 403-5- 
 
 At a meeting on January nth, 1853 — 
 
 Mr. Hawkshaw said he had tried all the principal sys- 
 tems, and would not generally adopt any except creo- 
 soting. Kyan's was inefficient, Burnett's was not satisfac- 
 tory, and Payne's rendered the wood brittle. He had 
 certainly never seen an instance of decay in creosoted 
 timber, even in the most unfavorable position. — Institution 
 of Civil Engineers' Minutes^ Vol. xii., p. 230. 
 
 Statements made before the London Institute of Civil 
 
40 
 
 ■Engineers, and reported in the Civil Engineer and ArcM- 
 tecfs yournal: 
 
 " The creosoting process was not, as often described, a 
 chemical process entirely. It was to a certain extent, be- 
 cause the creosote oil was the strongest coagulator of the 
 albumen in the sap of the wood. But that was not his 
 only idea when he introduced the process : his object was 
 also to fill the pores of the wood with a bituminous 
 asphaltic substance which rendered it water-proof, and by 
 which, in process of time, the wood so treated became 
 much more solid and harder than heart-wood itself 
 
 " The result was fully shown by some specimens he 
 had received from Belgium of half-round sleepers creo- 
 soted by him fifteen years ago, which showed that all the 
 young wood had become set, as it were, into a piece of 
 solid asphalt ; and Scotch fir and Baltic timber, which had 
 their pores filled with the tar oil, became entirely water- 
 proof Of the Scotch fir sleepers laid on the Northeast- 
 ern Railway in 1841, eighty per cent, are doing duty at the 
 present time, and such cases of decay as have occurred 
 were found to have taken place in the heart-wood. The 
 engineer of the Belgian State railways had sent him some 
 specimens, not long ago, which illustrated the same fact. 
 He found one specimen which had lost a piece of its 
 heart by decay; but upon experimenting upon the trans- 
 verse strength of that sleeper against a similar sleeper un- 
 creosoted, it was found quite as strong, though it had lost 
 its heart, because, from the thorough impregnation of the 
 bitumen, the young wood had become so hard that it 
 was more like an iron pipe, and he was satisfied that if 
 it lost all the heart it would be stronger than a sleeper 
 in its natural state. 
 
 " The half-round sleepers lasted longer than the square 
 
41 
 
 form, because they retained all the young wood, and 
 would have more creosote in it, but in the square sleeper 
 it would be cut off." 
 
 SOUTH DURHAM COLLIERY. 
 
 South Durham Colliery, March 5, 1859. 
 Dear Sir — I beg to state in reply to your note, that the creosoted props 
 put in in February, 1844, are still standing, and, to all appearance, are as 
 sound as when put in 15 years ago. We put in props of the same sort of 
 timber, uncreosoted, in the same place, which do not last more than from six 
 to nine months until they are to renew. 
 
 I am, dear sir, yours truly, 
 
 ADAM HACKWORTH, Overtnan. 
 
 STOCKTON & DARLINGTON RAILWAY. 
 
 March 15, 1867. 
 
 Gentlemen — I forwarded per rail, yesterdajr, a piece of creosoted yellow 
 pine timber, cut from the end of a sleeper, which was laid down on the 
 Stockton and Darlington Railway, August, 1841. 
 
 The sleeper, save being slightly indented by the chairs, is in a state of 
 excellent preservation, and likely to last many more years. 
 
 You will perceive that the piece forwarded is as sound and strong as the 
 first day it was laid in the ground, nearly twenty-six years ago. It would 
 have been rendered useless in quarter the time if laid down in its natural 
 state. 
 
 Now, seeing that the decay of timber is gradual and goes on from year 
 to year, and the creosoted timber is unchanged after twenty-six years, 
 one cannot put any limit to its duration, save from mechanical action, such 
 as that of small-based chairs ; the careless and injudicious manner in which 
 they are fastened to the sleepers in many cases suffering them to work loose 
 for long periods, and thereby embed themselves. These are causes which 1 
 believe have never received a sufficient amount of attention, but which can 
 in a great measure be remedied ; and, no doubt, have often given a bias 
 against creosoting. 
 
 I believe I ma)' safely say that 1 have had now as large an experience in 
 permanent way as most men (something like forty years) and have had to 
 do with stone blocks, different kinds of timber laid down in its natural state, 
 and cast-iron sleepers, which, by the way, I have seen taken up after being 
 down some seven or eight years, half eaten away by the sulphur from the bal- 
 last, and do think Xhz.i properly creosoted transverse sleepers oi good substance, 
 chairs with a good base dinA properly fastened, and double-headed rail 75 or 80 
 lbs. per yard, seated on oak cushions, make the best and most economical 
 permanent way that has come within my experience. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, yours respectfully, 
 
 THOMAS SUMMERSON, Inspector. 
 
 Hope Town Foundry, Darlington, 
 April 17, 1867. 
 Gentlemen — I have been making some tests of creosoted and uncreosoted 
 Scotch fir and memel timber for Mr. Cudworth, of the S. & D. Railway. It 
 
42 
 
 appears that an impression lias got abroad, that creosoting renders the tim- 
 ber short or brittle ; however, the result of our tests proves quite the con- 
 trary. We took six pieces each of creosoted and uncreosoted Scotch fir, 
 2 ft. 6 in. b)'- 2 ft. I 1-2 in., cut from the heart of the same sleeper and the same 
 quantity of memel ; the average breaking weight, both as regards the Scotch 
 fir and memel, was in favor of the creosoted timber. This nearly agrees with 
 some tests I made from the pieces of timber I sent you last, and which had 
 Iain twenty-six years. I thought if there was any deterioration of strength 
 it was the most likely to be from this, which was yellow pine. I took six 
 pieces from it 5-8 in. square, and six pieces of the same substance from a 
 new yellow pine deal, and tested these with an indicated spring balance and, 
 found the strength as nearly equal as possible, but there was a marked dif- 
 ference in the deflection or yielding previous to breaking, the creosoted tim- 
 ber bending much more than the other. I don't know whether you may 
 have made any trials yourselves. I was curious in the matter myself, and 
 thought it might be interesting to you. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, yours respectfully, 
 
 THOMAS SUMMERSON. 
 
 TANFIELD MOOR COLLIERY. 
 
 N ewcastle-on-Tyne, May 6, 1867. 
 
 Gentlemen — We put in a quantity of your creosoted props in the main re- 
 turn air-course in the Tanfield Moor Colliery, in April, i860 ; at the same 
 time we put in an equal quantity of larch props, alternately ; the larch were 
 renewed twice in three years, when we replaced them with creosoted props 
 from your establishment, the whole of which appear to be as sound as when 
 first put in. We send you a portion of one of the props put in in i860. 
 
 We are, gentlemen, yours respectfull)^ 
 
 JAMES JOICEY & CO. 
 
 MICKLEY COLLIERY. 
 
 Mickley Colliery, Jjine 28, 1867. 
 Gentlemen — Creosoted timber was used for securing the horse and engine 
 ways of Mickley Colliery about fourteen years ago ; the accompanying sam- 
 ples show the condition of the timber ; in similar places in this colliery, 
 larch timber will continue sound for about six years, and Scotch for about 
 four years. I therefore have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the ad- 
 vantage of using (where practicable) creosoted wood for timbering the per- 
 manent roads of a colliery. 
 
 I remain, gentlemen, yours truly, 
 
 MATTHEW LIDDELL. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE BUILDING NEWS OF JULY 5th, 1870. 
 
 " The preservative properties ot creosote appear to be threefold. First, 
 it prevents the absorption of moisture in any form or under any change of 
 temperature ; secondly, it is noxious to animal and vegetable life, thereby 
 repelling the attacks of insects, and preventing the propagation of fungi ; 
 thirdly, it arrests the vegetation or living principle of the tree, after its sep- 
 
. 43 
 
 aration from the root, which is one of the primary causes of dry rot and other 
 species of decay. 
 
 " Creosoted sleepers (American white fir) placed on the line from Man- 
 chester to Ctewe, in 1838, are still as sound as when first laid down. 
 
 " Creosoting, too, has proved most effective against marine worms, ac- 
 cording to E. H. Von Baumhauer, who was engaged by the Royal Academy 
 of Sciences at Amsterdam to investigate the subject, and who proved to the 
 society, in a manner incontestible, that the teredo navalis had never attacked 
 wood that had been thoroughly creosoted.* 
 
 " It has been stated that creosoting renders timber brittle, but no satisfac- 
 tory proof has yet been adduced ; while, on the other hand, we have the tes- 
 timony of such gentlemen as Mr. Ure, the engineer to the River Tyne Com- 
 missioners, who gives it as his opinion that there is no difference between 
 the strength ot creosoted and uncreosoted timber ; as for long beams, diag- 
 onal stays, etc., he specifies the same sizes in both cases ; and further, that 
 in driving some long piles they had driven them so hardly that they took 
 fire at the top, and yet showed no signs of breaking. Mr. Ure, as most en- 
 gineers know, has had very large experience in pile-driving. 
 
 " Mr. Burt states that, after an experience of twenty years, during which 
 time he sent about one million and a half of sleepers to India alone, besides 
 having prepared many thousand loads of timber for other purposes, he 
 could safely assert that the instances of failure had been rare and isolated. 
 In those cases where decay had taken place, it has been found on inquiry to 
 be due to the operation not having been properly performed. As a collat- 
 eral proof that this mode of preserving timber is considered satisfactory, it 
 has lately been more extensively employed than any other method." 
 
 * See " Sur le Taret et le moyens de preserver le Bois de ses degats," par E. H. Von Baum- 
 hauer. 1866. 
 
Economy of Creosoting 
 
 IN RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 Approximate Estimate of Savifg in Use of Creo- 
 
 soTED Ties. 
 
 The average life of ties and fence posts used in the con- 
 struction of American railroads appears by their several 
 reports to be about six years. 
 
 From the evidence presented in this pamphlet it is 
 shown that their duration may be extended to 24 years 
 when thoroughly creosoted. The following table will 
 show at a glance the comparative economy of creosoting 
 ties^ posts, station platforms, timber for stock cars, &c. 
 
 The estimate assumes that during a period of 24 years 
 ties and lumber can be purchased at present rates, which 
 is, however, improbable. The true results would there- 
 fore be more favorable than is now shown — since lumber, 
 with increasing scarcity, would be increased in price. 
 
 The loss upon English Railways arising from renewal 
 of iron from wear alone, is less in the case of creosoted 
 than of plain ties ; the road bed being firmer when undis- 
 turbed, and the spike being protected from rust, and the 
 wood from decay, the rail is held more firmly upon 
 the tie. But it is impossible to give an accurate state- 
 ment of the economy from this source, although every 
 man of railroad experience will appreciate the matter. 
 
45 
 COST PER MILE 
 
 Of common or vncreosoted ties^ {average duration six years^ 
 using 2,640 per mile^ aggregating with 3 renewals in a 
 period of 2/\. years. 
 
 10,560 ties at 40 cents, ..... $4,224 
 " " laying, at 30 cents, . . , 3,168 
 
 Interest on same from date of laying original ties, 
 and of each renewal to the expiration of 24 years, 
 being respectively for 24, 18, 12, and 6 years, at 
 7 per cent, 7>76l 
 
 Total cost, . . . . . $15,153 
 
 COST OF SAME PER MILE CREOSOTED. 
 
 2,640 ties, at 40 cents, $1,056 
 
 " " creosoting, at 35 cents, . . 924 
 
 " " laying, at 30 cents, . . . -792 
 
 Interest on the same for 24 years, . . . 4,633 
 
 Total cost, $7,405 
 
 Cost of common ties, including cost of taking 
 out decayed ties and laying new ones — with in- 
 terest on same for a period of 24 years, per 
 mile . . . . . . $15^153 
 
 Cost of creosoted ties with interest on same for a 
 
 period of 24 years, per mile . . . 7A'^S 
 
 Saving in using creosoted ties in 24 years, 
 
 PER MILE . . . . . . . $7,748 
 
 Saving per annum, per mile . . . 322 
 
 A similar saving can be shown in fence posts, stock-car 
 floors and .frames, station platforms, sills for buildings, 
 &c., &c., as well as in piles and other timber for marine 
 works. 
 
AUTHORITIES ON MARINE WORKS. 
 
 REPORT UPON EXPERIMENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 MiOISTS. L. OREI^IIN^, 
 INGENIEUR DES FONTS ET CHAUSEES, 
 
 UPON 
 
 Cr^soted Baltic Timber^ 
 
 To test its power of resisting Decay, and the attacks of the Teredo 
 Navahs in Sea Works. 
 
 Annales de Travaux Publics de Belgique. 
 VOL. XXI. 1864. 
 
 The experiments undertaken by me in 1857, atOstend, 
 to ascertain the relative preservation of timber prepared 
 with sulphate of copper, and timber prepared with creo- 
 sote oil, when placed in the sea, and the relative re- 
 sistance of such differently-prepared timber to the attacks 
 of the .teredo worm, were described in volumes 19 and 
 20 of these Annales. 
 
 I have proceeded with these experiments, and having 
 again minutely inspected the creosoted wood, I am able 
 to say that it presents no trace of the teredo, and is in a 
 perfect state of preservation. The experiments, I believe, 
 may be now taken as decisive, and we may conclude 
 that well-creosoted fir timber, prepared with creosote oil 
 of good quality, is proof against the attacks of the tere- 
 do, and is certain to last for a long time. 
 
 Let us sum up the results of these experiments, or, at 
 least, such as apply to the timber submerged in the sea. 
 
47 
 
 and exposed to the teredo's attacks. This timber is 
 placed exactly 6 ft. 3 in. (1.90 met.) above the low-water 
 mark of spring tides, so that the pieces between 6 ft. 7 in. 
 and 8 ft. 7 in. (2 met. and 2,60 met.) long are left partly 
 dry twice in the day. The teredo greatly abounds at 
 Ostend, and has been found in all situations below 6 ft. 
 3 in. (1.90 met.) above the low-water mark of springtides. 
 In the first fortnight of the month of October, 1857, I 
 placed immediately beneath the line marking 6 ft. 3 in. 
 (1.90 met.) above the water mark, upon the piles of the 
 east pier — 
 
 1. Three pieces of creosoted fir, which had been taken 
 from a lot of wood prepared in the ordinary way by the 
 State Railway. 
 
 2. Three pieces of beech prepared with sulphate of 
 copper. 
 
 3. One piece of fir and one piece of beech wood not 
 prepared in any way. 
 
 The First Inspection, iS^g. 
 
 In the beginning of January, 1 859, the above-men- 
 tioned pieces were taken down and inspected. 
 
 It was found that the piece of fir unprepared was much 
 perforated by the teredo ; that the piece of beech unpre- 
 pared was perforated from one end to the other ; that the 
 pieces prepared with sulphate of copper were all three 
 eaten by the teredo ; and that the three pieces of creo- 
 soted fir alone were intact, and without a trace of the 
 teredo. 
 
 The three last-mentioned pieces alone were replaced, a 
 
48 
 
 slice having been previously cut off from each as a speci- 
 men; in two of the pieces the sawn surface was covered 
 with flat-headed nails, but, in the case of the third, this 
 precaution was purposely omitted. 
 
 The Second Inspection, i860. 
 
 The second inspection of the three pieces of creosoted 
 wood took place in March, i860. 
 
 Traces of the teredo were discoverable in the piece, 
 the sawn surface of which had not been covered with the 
 flat-headed nails ; but the two other pieces were altogether 
 intact. Upon the heart-wood portion of one of the sides 
 which probably had not been very fully impregnated with 
 creosote, some very small holes of young teredos were 
 discovered, but it was plain that they had not been able to 
 penetrate it at all. The two latter pieces were replaced. 
 
 The Third Examination, 1862. 
 
 In the early part of July, 1862, the two pieces re- 
 placed in i860 were re-examined, and presented no signs 
 of the teredo. They were then replaced as before. 
 
 The Fourth Examination, 1864. 
 
 The two pieces replaced in 1862 were examined upon 
 January 21st, 1864, and it was then found that they pre- 
 sented no trace of the teredo, and no sign of decay of 
 any kind. These two pieces are now in as perfect a 
 state of preservation as when they were first put into the sea, 
 the wood has retained all its elasticity, and has ac quired 
 a density which it did not possess in its unprepared state ; 
 
49 
 
 the creosote oil also appears to have been entering more 
 deeply into the wood. These two pieces have been ex- 
 posed to the teredo from the month of October, 1857, 
 to 21st January, 1864- — a period of more than six years. 
 
 They had, however, absorbed but a small proportion 
 of creosote oil. They are now in a state of perfect pre- 
 servation. The experiment appears to me conclusive. 
 
 However, as I said in the notice of this experiment, 
 inserted in Volume 20 of the Annales, the Honorable the 
 Minister of Public Works was so good as to order some 
 pieces of wood to be prepared at Ghent on the 16th May, 
 1861, by the officers of the State Railway, expressly for 
 my use; and I accordingly received 15 pieces then pre- 
 pared, with which to make a further experiment. I fixed 
 these 15 pieces, in the first fortnight of June, 1861, upon 
 the front row of piles of the east pier, all within 6 ft. 3 in. 
 (1.90 met.) above the low-water mark of the spring 
 tides. 
 
 In the course of the winter of 1861, and the first 
 month of 1862, three of these pieces — numbered 30, 33, 
 and 40, were swept away by the sea and lost. 
 
 The remaining 12 pieces were taken off, placed on the 
 quay, and examined on the nth July, 1862. After hav- 
 ing ascertained that they bore no trace of the teredo, I 
 kept as samples numbers 16 and 18, and replaced the 10 
 others. 
 
 These were taken down and examined on 21st Janu- 
 ary, 1864, and it was then again ascertained that they 
 showed no trace of the teredo, nor any kind of altera- 
 tion or decay. 
 
 They are strongly impregnated with creosote, and the 
 oil seems to have been penetrating more deeply into the 
 wood. The wood is hard, and retains all its elasticity. 
 
5° 
 
 On weighing the lo pieces in question, I found that they 
 had gained in weight, upon an average, 14 lbs. (6.25 
 kilos.) each, during their immersion from 1862 to 1864. 
 In 1862 we found that they had scarcely increased in 
 weight at all, but the normal weight with which we com- 
 pared them was, in this case, their weight as taken in the 
 creosoting yard immediately after their preparation; and 
 most probably this normal weight would have been less 
 had they been weighed in the first instance upon their 
 immersion in the sea at Ostend. 
 
 At all events, it is certain that the weight of the creo- 
 soted pieces of wood is found to be increased after their 
 immersion in the sea ; they cannot therefore have lost 
 in the sea any of the creosote oil with which they were 
 impregnated. This circumstance is probably owing to 
 the insolubility of the oil in the water, and also to the fact 
 of its density being about equal to that of the sea water. 
 It appears that, after its creosoting, and its subsequent im- 
 mersion in the sea for two years and a half, the fir wood 
 has nearly doubled in weight. It has acquired, and now 
 retains, the density of oak. 
 
 This trial of creosoted fir for marine purposes appears 
 to me conclusive, both as regards the preservation of the 
 wood, and as regards its resistance to the teredo. Ex- 
 periments made in England, and recently in France and 
 Holland, tend to the same conclusion. I cannot too 
 strongly recommend the use of creosoted fir wood in 
 hydraulic engineering, in preference to oak (the price of 
 which, especially for the larger pieces, has become exces- 
 sive), since, in addition to its being cheaper, there is no 
 doubt of the creosoted fir lasting longer. The Govern- 
 ment Public Works Department has cordially adopted 
 this qiost beneficial process, and constructed part of the 
 
51 
 
 dyke, and the whole of the American foot-passengers' 
 bridge, in the new works at Ostend, of creosoted red fir. 
 
 At Nieuport, a visitors' pier, 600 met. (660 feet), has 
 been built of creosoted fir, upon the left bank of the 
 channel ; and the new pier, which is to be carried out 
 from the end ot it into the sea, will doubtless likewise be 
 made of creosoted fir. Moreover, various sluice gates at 
 Ostend have recently been ordered to be renewed, and 
 creosoted Baltic fir and pitch pine to be used for that 
 purpose. 
 
 The only things about which, to my mind, we need 
 be solicitous, are, the proper creosoting of the timber with pro- 
 per creosote oil^ and the use of the proper kinds of the timber^ 
 viz., those best suited to the process of creosoting. 
 
 Ostend; ^th February, 1864. 
 
 REPORT RESPECTING CREOSOTING 
 AT LEITH. 
 
 3 East Register Street, 
 
 Edinburgh, 26th March, 1862. 
 
 Sir — In consequence of your letter to the Commis- 
 sioners of the Leith Pier and Harbor Works, they ap- 
 pointed a sub-Committee of their Board to inspect the 
 works, and see the state of the creosoted timber, of which 
 the Leith Pier was constructed in the year 1850. 
 
 I went yesterday with the sub-Committee and Mr. 
 Robertson, their Engineer, to the works, when they all 
 very carefully examined the works. 
 
 It was ascertained and admitted by all, that unprepared 
 wood is completely eaten away by the worms, at this 
 
52 
 
 place, in three or four years, and that, if the piers and 
 woodwork had not been creosoted, the whole would Have 
 been destroyed in four years. 
 
 I will now proceed to report the result of our examina- 
 tion : 
 
 LEITH PIER. 
 
 The Main Piles. — These were very carefully ex- 
 amined by Mr. Robertson and the Commissioners' Super- 
 intendent, hi[t in no instance could they find that the worm 
 attacked them. They were creosoted with lo lbs. per foot, 
 and these piles are 1,013 in number. 
 
 The beams supporting the deck planks, consisting of 
 42 beams, 27 feet long, 13 inches by 6^ inches, were 
 next examined; they appeared to be perfectly sound, 
 except in one instance, this beam was eaten all over, and 
 must have been badly, or not at all creosoted. 
 
 The next was the walings and cross-ties ; they were all 
 perfectly sound, except in several instances the ends of them 
 were eaten by the worm ; it was only in that part of their 
 ends which had been cut — the other portions of these pieces 
 were perfectly free from the attack of the worm ; they 
 are 13 by 6i inches, creosoted with 7 lbs. to the foot. 
 
 The iron spikes that were drawn out of the beams 
 with the planks, were the same as if newly made ; not 
 the slightest appearance of rust being upon them, although 
 they had been in the wood and sea 12 years. This I 
 pointed out to the Commissioners. 
 
 To enable the Committee to see the planks properly, 
 several of them were lifted, which showed them to be con- 
 siderably eaten on the under side, except the portions that 
 rested on the beams, which had the appearance of being 
 newly creosoted, being wet with oil. 
 
 Although these planks have lasted 1 2 years, I am satis- 
 
53 
 
 fied that, had this low landing slip been laid with deals 
 perfectly dry, in place of planks cut off logs, and impreg- 
 -nated with lolbs. of oil instead of 6, there would not have 
 been any decay at all. 
 
 These planks are not eaten in the same way as an un- 
 creosoted piece of timber ; uncreosoted timber is eaten on 
 all sides, the insects attacking the outside and eating in- 
 wards; whereas, in creosoted timber, the insects get in 
 only at the heart, at the exposed end, and eat to the outside. 
 
 These planks, although considerbly eaten, have, in 
 mostly every case, the outer side perfectly square ; if it 
 had been an uncreosoted piece the corners would have 
 been eaten away and the piece ultimately become round- 
 
 The only portion of the works that the Committee did 
 not see were the Sheeting Piles, the tide not being low 
 enough at that time. 
 
 This concluded the inspection. 
 
 After the examination was over, one of the Commis- 
 sioners said : " I can see that the creosoting has been 
 beneficial to the timber, so much so, that as the piles 
 which have now been down for 1 2 years seem perfectly 
 sound, I consider they may last 12 years more." 
 
 He also said, that he was afraid, if the piles had not been 
 creosoted^ they would not have been able to find any -piles there 
 at all. As to the planking, he said that it had lasted 
 them 12 years,-and they could not expect it to last for 
 ever; if they had not had it creosoted they would have 
 had to renew it several times ; and to show that he was 
 satisfied, he said he would propose to have the planking 
 relaid with creosoted wood, only it must be well done. 
 
 The Superintendent has proposed to have it relaid with 
 causewaying in place of wood, but Mr. Robertson over- 
 ruled that. 
 
54 
 
 I then asked to be allowed to take a cross-tie as a sam- 
 ple for the Exhibition, which 1 would renew. It was 
 proposed that I should have it, and agreed to, the Super- 
 intendent being instructed to mark it off for me. 
 
 I am. Sir, Your obedient Servant, 
 
 P. M. MOIR. 
 
 Note. — The total quantity of timber required for repairs of this Pier, up 
 to the present date, July, 1864, has been 400 cubic feet. 
 
 LEITH HARBOR. 
 
 Castlemilk Place, Glasgow, \\th August, 1857. 
 Sir — The timber for the extensive new piers at Leith Harbor, completed 
 in 1854, was all previously prepared by creosoting. 
 
 A short time previous to my recent departure from Leith, and while resi- 
 dent engineer of the harbor, I made a minute examination of the piles of the 
 piers, and was happy to find that, after the lapse of about six years, I could 
 not discover any flaws from the attacks of the sea-worm. 
 
 * * * . * * 
 
 I may likewise mention that, for the purpose of testing the efHcacy of 
 creosoting, I placed at various periods several pieces of uncreosoted timber 
 alongside the creosoted, and found that the former were completely perfor- 
 ated by the worm in two years' time. 
 
 I am, yours respectfully, 
 
 THOMAS MACLEAN, 
 
 Civil Enpineer. 
 
PROFESSOR B^IRD, 
 
 OF Smithsonian Institute, Washington, 
 
 In an Article published in the Philadelphia Ledger 
 
 ON TIMBER USED FOR MARINE PURPOSES 
 
 fiNV) ITS Security f:om pECAY ANoy^TTACics of^eaJVorms 
 BY USE OF CREOSOTE OIL, SAYS : 
 
 To a maritime nation there are few subjects of greater 
 practical importance than the prevention of the ravages 
 of the teredo, or borer in timber immersed in sea water, 
 w^hether in the form of boats and ships, or piles, wharves, 
 etc. Many remedies have been proposed, some of them 
 beneficial for a time only, others entirely worthless, and 
 the encasing or covering the surfaces exposed to the 
 water with copper or other metal has hitherto been the 
 only permanent means of defence, and this only useful 
 as long as the shield remains unbroken. 
 
 Our attention has recently been called to a series of 
 experiments conducted in Holland, under the direction 
 of the Academy of Sciences of Amsterdam, and a report 
 just made embodies so many important conclusions, that 
 we present some ot them for consideration here. It may 
 be well to premise that the "borer" in question is not a 
 worm, as frequently supposed, but one of the mollusca 
 or shell family, which, floating freely in water when 
 young, and almost invisible, attaches itself to timber, and 
 with its two extremely minute shells, working like an 
 augur bit, bores into the substance of the wood, and in- 
 creasing in size with age, excavates a long tubular gallery, 
 lined with a shelly deposit. The wood is not consumed 
 
56 
 
 for food, but only bored out to afford the proper lodg- 
 ment for the animal. Its tail is provided with two small 
 wire-like siphons, which, serving to catch the minute 
 animalcules on which it is nourished, project beyond the 
 surface of the wood into the water, although readily re- 
 tracted at will. 
 
 The experiments in question were prosecuted simulta- 
 neously in different harbors, and with piles of oak, pine 
 and fir, some of which were prepared with the different 
 remedies and others left in an exposed condition. Three 
 classes of experiments were made — one, the coating the 
 external surface only with paint or other substances; an- 
 other, the impregnating the surface and the outer portion 
 of the wood with different preparations, and another, the 
 use of timber different from that usually employed 
 
 Under the first class, experiments were made with a 
 mixture of tallow, coal tar, rosin, sulphur, and powdered 
 glass ; parafHne varnish, obtained by the dry distillation 
 of peat ; coal tar ; oil paint of different bases ; by carbon- 
 izing the surface of the wood ; driving it full of broad- 
 headed nails ; coating it with zinc or galvanized iron, and 
 by applying a number of secret preparations presented 
 for the purpose. None of the remedies gave satisfactory 
 results. Some had absolutely no effect, and others dimin- 
 ished the evil only in a trifling degree ; while even in the 
 latter case, any abrasion of the surface caused by floating 
 ice or other means, or the cracking of the wood, allowed 
 the entrance of the teredo to an injurious extent. 
 
 Under the second head, trial was made of sulphate of 
 copper, sulphate of iron, acetate of lead, corrosive subli- 
 mate, soluble glass, chloride of calcium and chloride of 
 zinc ; tar oil, creosote oil, etc. Of these the creosote oil 
 experiment alone presented any positive indications of 
 
57 
 
 beneficial result, and in it the committee found what they 
 sought for. After five years of exposure, while all the 
 other piles, whether prepared or not, were entirely eaten 
 up, those impregnated with this substance were perfectly 
 sound and free from any trace of the worms. In experi- 
 ments of the third class, various woods were tried ; some 
 of extreme hardness, and others reputed to be poisonous, 
 but all were more or less affected by the worm. 
 
 The report of the committee sums up with the follow- 
 ing conclusions : i . That mere external coating of the 
 timber with paint or other substance is of no avail ; since 
 it is impossible to maintain an unbroken surface, the 
 young teredo will enter the slightest crack or abrasion. 
 The use of copper, zinc or galvanized iron plates is too 
 expensive for most occasions ; and even these become of 
 no use when broken. 2. Impregnating wood with soluble 
 inorganic salts which are poisonous to animal life, fur- 
 nishes no protection against the worm. This is due to 
 the fact that the sea water soon dissolves away their 
 strength, and that the worm does not devour or digest the 
 wood bored out by means of the shelly jaws. 3. The 
 hardness of the wood and its poisonous character, as far 
 as known, furnishes no protection. 4. Creosote oil is so 
 far the only substance met with that constitutes a true pro- 
 tection against the worm. Attention should therefore be 
 directed to the best and quickest methods of saturating 
 the wood with this material, and to the kinds of wood 
 most absorbent of it. As the creosote oil doubtless owes 
 its peculiar powers in the respect just indicated mainly to 
 the carbolic and cresylic acid it contains, we have another 
 illustration of the important applications to be made of 
 the latter substances in our domestic and industrial econ- 
 omy. Some of these we presented in an extended article, 
 
Jj8 
 
 published last summer, and new uses are constantly being 
 brought to notice. The pure acids are probably too solu- 
 ble to be of the same use in the preservation of sea timber 
 as the creosote oil, and are also much too expensive ; but 
 they may doubtless be employed to advantage on a small 
 scale, when the other substance cannot be had. 
 
 In conclusion, we may call attention again, as we have 
 already done, to the fact that a similar impregnation of 
 timber with creosote oil for railroad sleepers and other 
 purposes, involving burial in the ground, will be an effec- 
 tual protection against dry rot and similar causes of decay. 
 
 ^. FORESTIER, 
 
 Ingenieur en Chef des Fonts et Chausees. 
 
 In a work lately published in France by Mons. A. For- 
 estier, " Ingenieur en Chef des ponts et chausees," may 
 be found detailed reports of similar tests made for twenty- 
 nine years in the ports of Sunderland, Teignmouth, 
 Lowestoft, Leith, Southampton, Brighton, Devonshire, 
 Manchester, Plymouth, Portland, Holyhead, Ostend, and 
 of Sables d'Olonne, and in every case creosote oil was 
 found to be the only substance which would protect wood 
 against the naval worm, and from dry rot and other causes 
 of decay. 
 
 The following extracts are taken from the work by 
 Mons. A. Forestier, above referred to, and published in 
 Paris in 1868, entitled '•'• Memoir e sur la conservation des 
 hois a la 7ner : " 
 
 " Our studies and experiments have entirely convinced 
 us that of all the numerous processes hitherto known, the 
 
59 
 
 only one thoroughly efficacious is that which consists in 
 thoroughly impregnating wood with creosote. 
 
 " The gates of the docks at Monk-Wearmouth, at Sun- 
 derland, were, in 1839, constructed of yellow pine treated 
 with creosote, and twenty years afterwards, on the 5th of 
 April, 1859, at the meeting of the Institution of Civil En- 
 gineers, Mr. S. E. Harrison reported that they were still 
 perfectly sound, while certain pieces of Kyanized wood in 
 the same dock were very badly damaged by the naval 
 worm. 
 
 "In 1842 Mr. Brunei employed at Teignmouth creo- 
 soted wood, and at the meetings on November 27th and 
 December 4th, 1849, of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 
 he gave his assurance that these timbers had not been 
 touched by the naval worm, while all those not creosoted 
 had been more or less decayed. 
 
 " It was in 1846, at the port of Lowestoft, that the ex- 
 periment was for the first time tried on a grand scale of 
 using, in salt water, wood treated with creosote, the occa- 
 sion being the construction of two piers, in which not less 
 than 1,600 piles were driven. 
 
 " The happy results obtained were for a long time denied 
 and disputed, and it is said that they went even to the 
 length of offering a reward to any one who would produce 
 a specimen of creosoted wood attacked by the naval worm. 
 
 "In 1849 a party, interested in proving the failure of 
 the plan, came, assisted by an engineer, and passed three 
 days in examining, with the greatest care, each pile ; and, 
 after this long and minute search, could discover out of 
 the whole 1,600 only six very slightly attacked, which 
 must be considered evidently as a very slight exception, 
 and of no consequence. 
 
 " This experiment is so much the more conclusive, be- 
 
6o ' . 
 
 cause the port of Lowestoft is perhaps, of all in England, 
 the most infested with the naval worm and limnoria. 
 
 " The compilation of the facts detailed shows that creo- 
 soted wood, inspected after 7, 8, 11, 13, 14 and 20 years, 
 has been found in a perfect state of preservation, while, 
 after a few years, and often after a few months, other 
 specimens of the same kind of wood, subjected to the same 
 conditions, have been used up." 
 
 M, Forestier, referring to extensive experiments made 
 in Belgium by M. Crepin, gives that gentleman's own 
 words : 
 
 " In a word, it is proven that sea water has no action on 
 creosoted surfaces, and that the portions of the wood well 
 impregnated preserve their penetrating odor, and present 
 no trace of alteration." 
 
 M. Forestier also gives the conclusions reached by a 
 Commission appointed by the Dutch Government, and 
 which tried faithfully and extensively various processes 
 which purported to preserve wood. In summing up, the 
 Commission says : " The sole thing that with any great 
 probability can be regarded as a true preservative against 
 the havoc to which wood is exposed on the part of the 
 naval worm, is creosote oil" 
 
 By a series of experiments, conducted in Holland under 
 the direction of the Academy of Sciences of Amsterdam, 
 it was proved that " creosote oil " was the only substance 
 which would protect wood in the shape of piles, &c., from 
 the attacks of the teredo navalis (naval worm). 
 
 Report to Sardinian Government. 
 A fir sleeper of ordinary size has a volume of 0.70 
 M. c, and weighs 40 k. After its injection with creosote 
 its weight is 65 k. and it has acquired a density eq_iial to oak. 
 
6i 
 
 This property admits the use of white-wood sleepers un- 
 der the joint cushions, and along the inclined plane dei 
 Giovi, where sleepers injected with metallic salts were 
 obliged to be taken up after a few days on account of the 
 cushion having become embedded on the wood. — Report 
 of G. Alby^ C. E,, to the Committee ordered by the Sardinian 
 Govern?netit to consider the relative merits of the different pro- 
 cesses of preserving wood. — l^urin, 1 860. 
 
 In his evidence, given before the Select Committee on 
 Harbors of Refuge, Mr. Abernethy said : 
 
 " I am convinced that timber, when creosoted, is not 
 subject to the action of the worm, as far as my actual ob- 
 servation goes ; and in that case probably I am under- 
 stating it when I say it would last for half a century at 
 least." 
 
 Lowestoft Harbor, Norfolk. 
 
 The earliest wood creosoted, and exposed to the sea in 
 harbors, was used at Lowestoft ; and Mr. Sinclair, the en- 
 gineer to that harbor, made the following statement at the 
 Engineer's Institute, on April 5th, 1859, regarding it: 
 
 At the meeting at the Institution of Civil Engineers, 
 Mr. T. E. Harrison remarked, that the. entrance gates of 
 the Monk-Wearmouth docks at Sunderland, which had 
 been constructed of yellow pine, creosoted twenty years 
 ago by Mr. Brunei, were quite sound, but portions of 
 Kyanized timber, used in the same works, had been at- 
 tacked by the worm to a considerable extent. 
 
62 
 
 MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, & LINCOLNSHIRE RAILWAY 
 GREAT GRIMBSY DOCK. 
 
 Engineer's Office, August 20th, 1857. 
 
 Dear Sir — I am very glad to bear testimony to the very satisfactory result 
 creosoting has had upon the hundreds of piles used in the construction 
 of piers of the Tidal Basin for the entrance to the Grimsby Docks, 
 which has been done for seven years : none of the timber which was creo- 
 soted is in the least decayed or affected by the worm, whereas, other 
 piles, which were driven alongside by mistake, and not having undergone 
 creosoting, have been nearly destroyed by the worms, and are also con- 
 siderably decayed. I can highly recommend the process as being the 
 most sure and perfect preventive against all sea-worms and decay in tim- 
 ber ; but much depends upon the oil being properly injected into the 
 timber, to produce a satisfactory effect. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, yours truly, 
 
 ADAM SMITH, 
 Dock Engineer. 
 
 PORTLAND BREAKWATER. 
 
 Engineers Office, Portland, 2^th August, 1857. 
 
 Dear Sir — In reply to your letter of the 22d inst., making inquiry as to 
 the efficacy of creosoted wood in resisting the attacks of sea-worms, I am 
 happy to be able to inform you that, so far as our experience will enable 
 me to speak, the result of the impregnation of the timber with creosote has 
 been most successful and satisfactory. 
 
 ***** 
 
 As an instance of the successful application of creosote, I may mention 
 that about two months since it became necessary to remove some piles that 
 had been down four years, and fully exposed from above the level of high 
 water to nearly fifty-five feet under sea water ; there was no sign whatever 
 of any attacks by sea-zvotms, notwithstanding that we have "Teredo na- 
 valis " and " Limnoria terebrans " in the bay, the latter in great numbers, 
 and most destructive to unprepared timber. I have known three-inch plank 
 unprepared eaten quite through by them in about three years, at a point 
 not very far from the site of the piles alluded to. 
 I am, yours truly, 
 
 JOHN COODE, 
 
 Engineer-in- Chief. 
 
46TH Congress, } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ( Ex. Doc. 
 
 2d Session. j ( No. 270. 
 
 ST. CLAIR FLATS. 
 
 LETTER 
 
 THE SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 TRANSMITTING 
 
 Communication from the Chief of Engineers^ asking an appro- 
 priation to preserve from decay the timber to he tised in 
 the dikes of the St. Clair Flats improvement. 
 
 April 29, 1868. — Referred to the Committee on Commerce and ordered to 
 
 be printed. 
 
 War Department, Washington City, April 23, 1868. 
 Sir — I have the honor to send herewith, for the consideration of the proper 
 committee, a communication of April 13 from the Chief of Engineers, re- 
 commending an appropriation of $27,300, to cover the expense of preserv- 
 ing from decay, by " creosoting," all the wood above water, which is to be 
 put into the dikes of the St. Clair Flats improvement. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 EDWIN M. STANTON, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Re^esentatives. 
 
 Head-quarters Corps of Engineers, 
 
 Washington, D. C, April 13, 1868. 
 Sir—\ beg leave to transmit a copy of a communication from Colonel and 
 Brevet Brigadier-General T. J. Cram, corps of engineers, in relation to the 
 protection from decay of the timber to be used above water in the dikes of 
 the St. Clair Flats improvement, by the application of Seely's creosoting 
 process. 
 
 The application of General Cram is approved,^ and an appropriation of 
 $27,300 is respectfully recommended, to cover the additional expense. 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. A. HUMPHREYS, 
 
 Bngadier-General of Engineers, Commanding. 
 Hon. K. M. STANTON, 
 
 Seoretary of Wa/r. 
 
64 
 
 United States Engineer s Office, 
 
 Detroit, April b, 1868. 
 
 Sir — I have the honor to suggest that we should be acting with great 
 economy by " creosoting" all the wood above water to be put into the dikes 
 of the St. Clair Flats improvement. The original method of the process 
 was by Bethell, in England. Professor Seely, of New York City, has im- 
 proved the method of applying the creosote oil to wood. The proofs of the 
 advantage of the process are numerous, and conclusively show that rail- 
 way sleepers have borne the test, when creosoted, for 21 years, without 
 decay, and were then found as sound as ever, and will continue to be 
 sound — years. 
 
 In our dikes there will be 182,000 cubic feet of timber, subject to natural 
 decay, just about as railroad sleepers are, and which do not last, " uncreoso- 
 ted," more than seven years before requiring to be renewed. 
 
 The cost of creosoting will be 15 cents per cubic foot. The cost of the 
 timber uncreosoted is 21 3-10 cents per cubic foot. The cost of framing 
 and putting in is 9 7-10 per cubic foot. Creosoting the timber before 
 putting it into the work would bring the timber in the work to cost 46 
 cents per cubic foot. The measure of the economy may be estimated as 
 follows : 
 
 We know that timber creosoted has, as before stated, lasted 21 years. 
 Hence in 21 years we should save the difference between 46 and 93 cents* 
 per cubic foot, or 47 cents, which applied to 182,000 cubic feet in the dikes 
 gives us the total saving in 21 years of $85,540, which divided by 3 gives' 
 the saving of $28,513 for every period of seven years. 
 
 From this we perceive we should save more than enough in the first 
 period of seven years to reimburse us for the first outlay of creosoting, 
 which is for the whole 182,000 cubic feet only $27,300; and every suc- 
 ceeding period of seven years we should save in repairs $28,513, at least, 
 and as long thereafter as the process will be found to presei-ve the timber. 
 Mr. Brunei, in 1850, expressed his opinion that after 40 years the timber 
 would be found as sound as ever if well creosoted. before being put into the 
 work. 
 
 In my original estimate of the cost of the work, I, having had no time 
 to investigate this method of creosoting, put in nothing for it. If it should 
 be thought advisable to adopt the process it will be necessary to ask for an 
 additional appropriation for this purpose to the amount of $27,300. 
 
 I have seen the gentlemanf who is applying the process, and he assures 
 me he can creosote the timber as fast as the contractor can put it into the 
 work. 
 
 I respectfully submit the question for such action as you ma)^ deem proper 
 to take upon the subject, merely adding, in conclusion, that if we adopt the 
 process there is no time for delay in bringing it about, as we shall in a few 
 weeks hence be framing the timber. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 T. J. CRAM, 
 
 Colonel Engineers, Brevet Major-General. 
 
 Brevet Major-General A. A. HUMPHREYS, 
 
 Brigadier-General, OMef of Eniflneers, V. S. A. 
 
 * Ninet3'^-three cents is the cost of original and renewing twice. 
 f W. T. Pelton, Esq. 
 
6; 
 
 [/, S. Engineer Office of St. Clair Flats, Improvement, Mich., 
 
 Detroit, May 1st, 1870. 
 W. T. PBIiTON, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir — By a careful examination of Professor Seely's process — com- 
 monly called "creosoting" — for preserving wood, I have come to the con- 
 clusion that " creosoting " is a misnomer, and that his process really consists 
 in treating the wood with carbolic acid, which is a great preservative. The 
 only creosote developed in his method of applying the preservative seems 
 to come from, and pre-existing in the wood to be treated ; and, if I may be 
 allowed to coin a word, "carbolic-acidizing" would be more appropriate 
 than " creosoting" in connection with his method of application. Be this 
 as it may, I have been using his process for the timber extensively in the 
 construction of the dikes for the sides of the St. Clair Flats Canal, which 
 rise 5 feet above water, and consider the " carbolic-acidizing " superior to 
 any other in my knowledge for preserving timber from decay in all con- 
 structions above water, and in contact with earth. For the superstructure 
 of docks especially would it be found of great value, enabling us to substi- 
 tute wood with great economy at a cost far below the cost of stone or iron. 
 
 This process has been used in England, and elsewhere in Europe, for 
 dock timbers and railroad ties ; and, on examination of the wood, thus 
 treated, after 23 years of such exposure, engineers of high standing report 
 the wood perfectly sound. And it was upon such testimony that I resolved 
 to use the process for the timber in the Government work under my charge 
 at St. Clair Flats, and all the timber therein which is above low water, or in 
 contact with the ground, has been subjected to Professor Seely's method of 
 treatment. The timber used is white and hard pine, and is exposed in the 
 dikes, in a manner altogether similar to that in which timbers in a dock 
 would be in the best mode of construction, and filled with earthy matter, 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 T. J. CRAM, 
 
 Colonel U. S. Corps Engineers, Brevet Major-General. 
 
[From the Detroit Post?^ 
 
 ST. CLAIR FLATS. 
 
 The Ship-Canal — Progress of the Work The New 
 Process for Preserving Timber. 
 
 The improvement of the St. Clair Flats, which is now 
 being made after the plans and under the direction of 
 Gen. T. J. Cram, of the United States Corps of Engi- 
 neers, cannot but be of interest not only to commercial 
 men, but citizens of all the Western States; for the 
 deepening of the channel will facilitate to a great ex- 
 tent the shipment of the produce from the lakes so as 
 to enhance the value of all cereals. The canal will be 
 one and a half miles in length by 300 feet in width, 
 and will be dredged so as to allow vessels drawing 13 
 feet to pass through at the lowest stage. It is to be 
 so constructed that it can be deepened to admit vessels 
 drawing 18 feet whenever the demands of commerce 
 shall render it necessary. It is being furnished with 
 timber dikes, one on each side, running the entire length, 
 which will be filled with the excavations from the chan- 
 nel. The banks, besides, are being made 58 feet wide 
 and 5 feet above water. It is worthy of notice that, 
 to make the work more durable. Gen. Cram has, with 
 the approbation of the War Department, caused the 
 timbers which formed these dykes to be subjected to a 
 new process for its preservation, which will cause it to 
 last at least three times as long as timber usually remains 
 sound having the same exposure, and making a saving 
 to the government, as stated by Gen. Cram's report to 
 the War Department, of over $85,000 in 21 years. 
 
67 
 
 This method of creosoting timber, which was lately- 
 invented by Prof. Seely, of New York, consists in 
 subjecting the wood to be saturated to a temperature of 
 about 230 degress, while in a bath of creosote oil, for a 
 sufficient time to expel all the moisture, and to coagulate 
 the albuminous matters of the wood. When the pores 
 are thus freed from the water, and contain only steam, a 
 cold bath is substituted, so as to reduce the temperature 
 from 230 to 65 or 70 degrees, by means of which change 
 the steam in the pores of the wood is condensed, and a 
 vacuum formed, into which the oil is forced by atmos- 
 pheric pressure. 
 
 This process has all the advantages of the method 
 which has been in use in England and on the Continent 
 for many years (and experience has demonstrated that 
 creosote timber is still sound after having been in use 
 more than 22 years), and is much more simple in its 
 application, and consequently more economical and ex- 
 peditious than the English process. 
 
 Among the advantages claimed is the very important 
 one that green wood can be treated as successfully as dry. 
 The apparatus for the creosoting, which has already been 
 shipped to the Flats, and is now being erected on the 
 dikes of the canal, was built in this city by John Brennan, 
 and consists of a cylinder 45 feet long and 8 feet diame- 
 ter, with a steam coil in the bottom and a moveable 
 head. The cylinder rests upon its side upon substantial 
 timbers, and when the head is removed the lumber is 
 run into the tank upon trucks. In addition, there are 
 two receiving tanks for oil, each 15 feet in diameter and 
 7 feet high, with engine and boiler, connecting pipes, 
 pumps, etc. 
 
 The apparatus has been constructed after the plans 
 
68 
 
 and under the immediate direction of W. T. Pelton, 
 Esq., of New York, who has the control of the patent 
 and the contract for treating the timber. It is expected 
 that this process will be applied to the timber to be used 
 in the government works about to be begun at Toledo. 
 Mr. Pelton has also similar works now in successful ope- 
 ration at Chicago for treating railroad ties and dock 
 timbers. 
 
WOODEN PAVEMENTS 
 
 Importance of Creosoting. 
 
 PREVENTION OF DECAY. 
 
 Increased Wear of the Wood. 
 
 Sanitary Considerations. 
 
 OPINIONS OF AMERICAN CHEMISTS. 
 
 The recent extensive introduction of various wood 
 pavements in our cities and large towns, has given im- 
 portance to the question of the best methods of pre- 
 serving the lumber from decay, as well as to obviate 
 the evil effects of the presence of the decomposing 
 vegetable matter of the streets in contact with wood. 
 
 Uncreosoted wood, filled with the foul drainage of 
 the street, cannot fail, during the hot months, to pro- 
 duce a bad effect upon the atmosphere. 
 
 The superficial treatment with coal tar is but a tem- 
 porary remedy. The wood decays within by fermen- 
 tation of the sap, and the vapors arising from it are full 
 of the germs of disease. 
 
 By the Process of Seely, these dangers are entirely 
 overcome. The cooking of the sap destroys the fer- 
 menting element, and the pores of the wood are not 
 
70 
 
 only filled with antiseptic matter, but the resinous oil 
 enters and absolutely seals them against the return of 
 water. 
 
 The following opinions of American Chemists upon the 
 properties of creosote oil, and the effects of the Seely 
 Process, sufficiently demonstrate its value not only in 
 preserving and hardening the wood, but also as a san- 
 itary agent. 
 
 The capacity of creosote oil to form resin within 
 the wood is one of its most valuable properties. 
 
 An experience of two years in Boston and New 
 York shows the wood so creosoted has become very 
 much harder — and thus far the wear is nothing. 
 
 White pine and spruce become similar to the best 
 pitch pine, in weight and density. 
 
 Permanency of Chicago Pavements. 
 
 [From Chicago Times, 1870.] 
 
 It is probably an undisputed fact that there are in 
 Chicago more yards of wooden pavement than in any 
 other city in the Union. But how has the greater portion 
 of it been laid, and what are the prospects of its per- 
 manency ? Absolutely none ; and for this simple rea- 
 son : The blocks of wood used have been placed in 
 position without undergoing any change for their pres- 
 ervation. The result is, the water which percolates 
 through the gravel saturates and soon rots the wood 
 and the pavement is speedily used up. When laid 
 down in its natural state, a wooden pavement is con- 
 stantly exposed to the varying degrees of temperature 
 and moisture, and must decay in a very short time. 
 It is necessary not only for the preservation of our 
 
71 
 
 streets, but for the general health of the city, that some 
 improved method be adopted, and that in the future 
 the laying of wooden pavements in this city be con- 
 ducted with more regard to permanency, durability, 
 and good health than to a desire to construct the great- 
 est number of yards at the smallest possible present 
 cost. The great requisite of a wooden pavement is 
 its durability, and this can only be attained by adopt- 
 ing some method which will preserve the wood from 
 decay and wear. Unless something of this kind is 
 done the city will have to pay annually increased 
 sums of money for the preservation of the streets. 
 In pavements, a few decayed blocks delay travel, and 
 in a short time the damaged blocks will have to be 
 removed and others substituted. These repairs become 
 in every succeeding year, more and more imperative. 
 Such being the case, it will be readily seen that the 
 present system is a false one, and that cheapness is not 
 always economy. This rapid decay of the wooden 
 pavement, as has been said, is not only very costly, 
 but is extremely detrimental to the public health. 
 The large masses of decayed vegetable matter yearly 
 destroyed in the wooden pavements is of the greatest 
 importance in a sanitary point of view. The very air 
 breathed is contaminated, and pestilential disease will in 
 the course of time follow the paving with wood unless it is 
 first made secure against decay by some chemical process 
 which will thoroughly interrupt the utter demolition 
 of the material. A something which will thoroughly 
 permeate the wood, which will protect the fibre from 
 moisture, and which will form a constant an-d power- 
 ful disinfectant against all the malarious influences 
 arising from decomposition, must be adopted. Expe- 
 
7^ 
 
 rience has demonstrated that oil is one of the best 
 known preservatives of wood, and that by becoming in- 
 spissated in the pores of the wood that is subject to 
 attrition it greatly increases its durability under wear. 
 It does this by increasing the resistance of the fibre, 
 and by overcoming the tendency to splinter which is 
 shown by all wooded pavements. 
 
 This fact being established, it is only necessary to 
 state that it has been done by the impregnation of the 
 most minute pores of the blocks of wood with car- 
 bolic acid, or creosote, under the method known as the 
 Seely process, which method embraces all the require- 
 ments complained of as lacking in the present wooden 
 pavement. The early attention of the proper authorities 
 is called to this fact, and while they are making up their 
 minds to adopt the few suggestions thrown out in this 
 article, let them remember that the best material is al- 
 ways the cheapest. 
 
73 
 
 Netv York, March ii, 1868. 
 Dear Sir — I have carefully examined the pavement treated by Prof. Seely's 
 creosoting process. I find that even a few hours after the operation, the 
 whole section of wood is deeply colored with the dark oil, and by appropri- 
 ate tests, that the effective antiseptic and disinfecting agents, the carbolic or 
 phenic acid, has permeated every block. The benefits of the treatment are 
 threefold : 
 
 1. The prolonged influence of heat, as the sections are immersed in heated 
 oil,- tends to preserve the wood by its action on the nitrogenized or ferment- 
 ing principles. 
 
 2. The thorough soaking of the ends and sides of each block with 
 oil prevents the entrance of moisture, and of the impurities which would be 
 associated with it in the streets of a city, and which, should they gain admit- 
 tance, would facilitate its decay not only, but would act mechanically by ab- 
 sorption, swelling the wood, and by frost in our severe winters, marring the 
 evenness of our pavements. Should the pavement act as a sponge to hold 
 moisture, and gradually yield it up to the atmosphere, it would not only 
 prove destructive to the block, but most deleterious to the air. 
 
 3. Though the oil alone would not preserve the blocks from destruction, 
 the carbolic acid united with it is a most effective agent for accomplishing 
 this desirable end. This is not based on mere theories and speculations, but 
 is the result of many years of experimenting, not only by individual chemists 
 and investigators, but nearly all the prominent governments of the civilized 
 world have conducted examinations with this particular agent on an exten- 
 sive scale, and with great success. Besides preventing decay, this impreg- 
 nation confers additional hardness on the wood, most evident on boring or 
 cutting the blocks ; this will doubtless add to the durability of this pave- 
 ment. There is an additional advantage not generally aimed at in the con- 
 struction of a city pavement, namely, its antiseptic properties. 
 
 Of late years carbolic acid has taken a prominent position among the 
 agents capable of destroying infection. It has been found in our hospitals 
 that even washing the woodwork of the rooms with a diluted solution of this 
 substance causes certain diseases to disappear. This disinfecting property 
 will, no doubt, be recognized by our Board of Health, as it tends to rid us of 
 the pestilence by neutralizing the filth of hitherto diseased districts, increas- 
 ing the value of property not only in those localities, but throughout the city. 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 R. OGDEN DOREMUS, M. D., 
 Professor Chemistry and Toxicology in Bellevue Hospital Medical College ; Pro- 
 fessor Chemistry and Physics in College of City of New York, 
 
 New York, March 14, 1868. 
 
 Dear Sir — The carbolizing process of Professor Seely, to which this pave- 
 ment is subjected, cannot fail to give it very positive advantages over any other 
 in use, not only as imparting to the wood greater durability, but the antisep- 
 tic agent employed must exert a purifying influence on the emanations from, 
 and the drainage through, the streets in which it is laid. 
 
 Though the Nicolson pavement is proved to be unexpectedly durable, 
 and it is claimed for it that it will wear out before it will decay, still in some 
 especially well-drained surfaces I have known the blocks to be affected with 
 " dry rot." 
 
 It is at least true that there is a limit to the durability of wood not treated 
 with any preservative preparation ; and in the gutters and elsewhere, where 
 the wear of the pavement is slight, that pavement is most economical which 
 will longest resist the action of decay. 
 
 Professor Seely's process for preserving wood permits the application of 
 
74 
 
 the best preservative agents known, at least as thoroughly as any other, and 
 very much more cheaply. 
 
 It is also applicable to green as well as dry wood, and to a cheap as well 
 as to an expensive v/ood. 
 
 By enabling our cities to use material hitherto regarded as unfit to be em- 
 ployed in paving, and adding to the durabilify of any that may be used, it 
 seems destined to cheapen and improve the whole process of street-paving, 
 and thus to become a public benefit. 
 
 J. S. NEWBERRY, 
 of the U. S. Sanitary Comtiiission. 
 
 W. T. PELTON : 
 
 Sir — Your samples of wood saturated with gas-tar distillates are received, 
 and also your request for my opinion as to the«flSciency of this liquid in pre- 
 venting decay. 
 
 In reply I would say that this distillate from gas-tar is one of the best of 
 all the substances employed for preserving timber. It combines the two re- 
 quisites of cheapness and remarkable antiseptic powers, due to the carbolic 
 acid and the hydro-carbons which form the great bulk of it. 
 
 The oldest trials made with it date back only about thirty years. But the 
 properties of the carbolic acid and of the hydro-carbons are so well under- 
 stood and so positive as to leave no room for doubt. ■> 
 
 It "is my opinion that wood thoroug"hly saturated with this material will 
 last for an indefinitely long period ; that it will be liable to no kind of rot or 
 decay, wet or dry, and that it will be fully protected from the attacks of all 
 wood-destroying insects. 
 
 It is particularly applicable to all kinds of out-door woodwork, where the 
 smell of the gas-tar is of no consequence, such as railroad ties, fence posts, 
 telegraph poles, bridges ; timber for docks, wharves, and piles ; ship timber 
 and planking, particularly where the vessel is exposed to the destructive 
 ravages of the ship-worm of the tropics. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 GEORGE HADLEY, 
 Professor of Chemistry in the University of Buffalo. 
 0, Jan. 21, i868. 
 
 Nezu York, March 14, 1868. 
 
 Sir — Numerous processes have been invented for protecting timber from 
 decay, some of which have been found to be very effective. The great ex- 
 pense of several of the proposed materials has prevented their general use, 
 however, and in practice, the " dead oil " of coal tar has been found to sat- 
 isfy most fully the two important requirements of effectiveness and 
 cheapness. 
 
 The use of this material was patented in England in 1838, by Bethel, and 
 the process has been very generally employed for railway sleepers, piles, 
 etc., with the most satisfactory results. 
 
 Very recently Prof. Charles A. Seely, of this city, who has devoted consid- 
 erable attention to the preparation of carbolic and cresylic acids from " dead 
 oils," for disinfecting and antisepting purposes, has materially improved the 
 English process. 
 
 I am satisfied, from a careful study of the subject, that Prof. Seely's pro- 
 cess is a very decided improvement on the Bethel! process, and that a pave- 
 ment prepared by it will resist both wet and dry decay, and will actually 
 contribute, by the effect of the materials with which it is saturated, to disin- 
 fection of the street filth with which it must necessarily come in contact. 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 C. F. CHANDLER, 
 Prof essor of Analytical and Applied Chemistry of Columbia College. 
 
73 
 
 New York, March ii, 1868. 
 Dear Sir— A. have carefully examined the pavement treated by Prof. Seely's 
 creosoting process. I find that even a few hours after the operation, the 
 whole section of wood is deeply colored with the dark oil, and by appropri- 
 ate tests, that the effective antiseptic and disinfecting agents, the carbolic or 
 phenic acid, has permeated every block. The benefits of the treatment are 
 threefold : 
 
 1. The prolonged influence of heat, as the sections are immersed in heated 
 oil, tends to preserve the wood by its action on the nitrogenized or ferment- 
 ing principles. 
 
 2. The thorough soaking of the ends and sides of each block with 
 oil prevents the entrance of moisture, and of the impurities which would be 
 associated with it in the streets of a city, and which, should they gain admit- 
 tance, would facilitate its decay not only, but would act mechanically by ab- 
 sorption, swelling the wood, and by frost in our severe winters, marring the 
 evenness of our pavements. Should the pavement act as a sponge to hold 
 moisture, and gradually jield it up to the atmosphere, it would not only 
 prove destructive to the block, but most deleterious to the air. 
 
 3. Though the oil alone would not preserve the blocks from destruction, 
 the carbolic acid united with it is a most effective agent for accomplishing 
 this desirable end. This is not based on mere theories and speculations, but 
 is the result of many years of experimenting, not only by individual chemists 
 and investigators, but nearly all the prominent governments of the civilized 
 world have conducted examinations with this particular agent on an exten- 
 sive scale, and with great success. Besides preventing decay, this impreg- 
 nation confers additional hardness on the wood, most evident on boring or 
 cutting the blocks ; this will doubtless add to the durability of this pave- 
 ment. There is an additional advantage not generally aimed at in the con- 
 struction of a city pavement, namely, its antiseptic properties. 
 
 Of late years carbolic acid has taken a prominent position among the 
 agents capable of destroying infection. It has been found in our hospitals 
 that even washing the woodwork of the rooms with a diluted solution of this 
 substance causes certain diseases to disappear. This disinfecting property 
 will, no doubt, be recognized by our Board of Health, as it tends to rid us of 
 the pestilence by neutralizing the filth of hitherto diseased districts, increas- 
 ing the value of property not only in those localities, but throughout the city. 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 R. OGDEN DOREMUS, M. D., 
 Professor Chemistry and Toxicology in Bellevue Hospital Medical College ; Pro- 
 fessor Chemistry and Physics in College of City of New York. 
 
 New York, March 14, 1868. 
 
 Dear Sir — The carbolizing process of Professor Seely, to which this pave- 
 ment is subjected, cannot fail to give it very positive advantages over any other 
 in use, not only as imparting to the wood greater durability, but the antisep- 
 tic agent employed must exert a purifying influence on the emanations from, 
 and the drainage through, the streets in which it is laid. 
 
 Though the Nicolson pavement is proved to be unexpectedly durable, 
 and it is claimed for it that it will wear out before it will decay, still in some 
 especially well-drained surfaces I have known the blocks to be affected with 
 " dry rot." 
 
 It is at least true that there is a limit to the durability of wood not treated 
 with any preservative preparation ; and in the gutters and elsewhere, where 
 the wear of the pavement is slight, that pavement is most economical which 
 will longest resist the action of decay. 
 
 Professor Seely's process for preserving wood permits the application of 
 
74 
 
 the best preservative agents known, at least as thoroughly as any other, and 
 very much more cheaply. 
 
 It is also applicable to green as well as dry wood, and to a cheap as well 
 as to an expensive wood. 
 
 By enabling our cities to use material hitherto regarded as unfit to be em- 
 ployed in paving, and adding to the durability of any that may be used, it 
 seems destined to cheapen and improve the whole process of street-paving, 
 and thus to become a public benefit. 
 
 J. S. NEWBERRY, 
 of the U. S. Sanitary Commission. 
 
 W. T. PELTON : 
 
 Sir — Your samples of wood saturated with gas-tar distillates are received, 
 and also your request for my opinion as to the efficiency of this liquid in pre- 
 venting decay. 
 
 In reply I would say that this distillate from gas-tar is one of the best of 
 all the substances emplo3'ed for preserving timber. It combines the two re- 
 quisites of cheapness and remarkable antiseptic powers, due to the carbolic 
 acid and the hydro-carbons which form the great bulk of it. 
 
 The oldest trials made with it date back only about thirty years. But the 
 properties of the carbolic acid and of the hydro-carbons are so well under- 
 stood and so positive as to leave no room for doubt. 
 
 It is my opinion that wood thoroughly saturated with this material will 
 last for an indefinitel)^ long period ; that it will be liable to no kind of rot or 
 decay, wet or dry, and that it will be fully protected from the attacks of all 
 wood-destroying insects. 
 
 It is particularly applicable to all kinds of out-door woodwork, where the 
 smell of the gas-tar is of no consequence, such as railroad ties, fence posts, 
 telegraph poles, bridges ; timber for docks, wharves, and piles ; ship timber 
 and planking, particularly where the vessel is exposed to the destructive 
 ravages of the ship-worm of the tropics. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 GEORGE HADLEY, 
 Professor of Chemistry in the University of Buffalo. 
 Buffalo, Jan. 2i, 1868. 
 
 New York, March 14, 1868. 
 
 Sir — Numerous processes have been invented for protecting timber from 
 decay, some of which have been found to be very effective. The great ex- 
 pense of several of the proposed materials has prevented their general use, 
 however, and in practice, the " dead oil " of coal tar has been found to sat- 
 isfy most fully the two important requirements of effectiveness and 
 cheapness. 
 
 The use of this material was patented in England in 1838, by Bethel, and 
 the process has been very generally employed for railway sleepers, piles, 
 etc., with the most satisfactory results. 
 
 Very recently Prof. Charles A. Seely, of this city, who has devoted consid- 
 erable attention to the preparation of carbolic and cresylic acids from " dead 
 oils," for disinfecting and antisepting purposes, has materially improved the 
 English process. 
 
 I am satisfied, from a careful study of the subject, that Prof. Seely's pro- 
 cess is a very decided improvement on the Bethel! process, and that a pave- 
 ment prepared by it will resist both wet and dry decay, and will actually 
 contribute, by the effect of the materials with which it is saturated, to disin- 
 fection of the street filth with which it must necessarily come in contact. 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 C. F. CHANDLER, 
 Professor of Analytical and Applied Chemistry of Columbia College. 
 
75 
 
 Professor John Torrey, of the United States Assay Office, sa^te : " You 
 have supplied the chief desideratum in the use of timber for pavements, 
 namely, the preservation of the material from decay. By your process, the 
 thorough preservation of the wood by well-known antiseptic and preserva- 
 tive substances, coal oil and carbolic acid, is fully established." 
 
 Yale College Laboratory, 
 New Haven, Conn., March 31, 1868. 
 Me. W. T. PELTON, New Y"ork : 
 
 My Dear Sir — You have asked my opinion, as a chemist, of the method 
 of preserving timber from decay, patented by Mr. Charles A. Seely, of New 
 York. 
 
 1. Of its efficacy and the general properties of the substances employed. 
 
 2. Of the action on iron brought in contact with timber thus prepared, as 
 in railway and other constructions. 
 
 3. Of its sanitary character when employed for the pavement of cities. 
 
 I. Mr. Seely's patent covers a mode, believed to be new, of applying sub- 
 stances, long known for their excellence in this particular, to the preserva- 
 tion of timber. The substances thus employed are those produced in the 
 distillation of coal-tar, and known commercially as " dead oil." When 
 crude coal-tar is subjected to distillation, the products first removed are 
 chiefly water, holding ammonia in solution, and a mixture of light oils hav- 
 ing a specific gravity less than water ; not over ten per cent, of the crude 
 product is represented in the light oil. This substance, when purified by a 
 second distillation, yields what is known as rectified coal-naphtha. This dis- 
 tillation is effected at a temperature below 370 degs. Fah., and removes from 
 the coal-tar those substances which are injurious to the preservation of wood, 
 viz.: chiefly ammonia and its salts and acetic acid ; while at the same time 
 products of high commercial value are obtained with it, viz.: benzole and its 
 associates. 
 
 The " dead oil," which constitutes perhaps twenty-five per cent, of the 
 crude coal-tar by weight, distills over at a temperature higher than 340 degs. 
 It is denser than water, insoluble in it, and of a highly complex nature, con- 
 taining naphthaline and its analogues, aniline and its analogues, and carbo- 
 lic acid or phenol. It is the last-named substance which possesses the re- 
 markable antiseptic and disinfectant properties which give value to the dead 
 oil as a preservative agent. Carbolic acid possesses in a remarkable de- 
 gree the smell and taste, as well as the preservative properties of creosote 
 obtained from the destructive distillation of wood, but it is chemically dis- 
 tinct from that substance. Carbolic acid, extensively used in the treatment 
 of putrid sores, and in admixture with sulphate of lime, it forms the agent 
 known as McDougall's Disinfectant. 
 
 The peculiar value of " dead oil," as a means of preserving timber, has 
 been long known and appreciated. 
 
 The creosoting process, as it is called, has been for many years in use in 
 Great Britain as applied to the preparation of railway ties and timbers, and 
 to piles for marine wharves, and with great success. The process of Bethell 
 is the one in general use there. 
 
 Mr. Seely's process claims, and I believe deserves, an advantage in econ- 
 omy of time and in thoroughness. The samples of both soft and hard wood 
 which I have seen prepared by his method, are most thoroughly impreg- 
 nated with the dead oil, no portion of the fibre escaping saturation. 
 
 Phenol, or carbolic acid, exceeds all other known substances in its power 
 of arresting and preventing decay, and the dead oil contains, in addition to 
 this remarkable body, a form of hydro-carbon which hardens on exposure, 
 and being injected into the pores of the wood, fills them, excluding both at- 
 mospheric oxygei#and moisture, and finally solidifies the whole into a 
 
76 
 
 resinous or pitch-like body almost incapable of decay. The naphthaline and 
 paranaphthaline produced at the close of the distillation are crystalline acids 
 which appear to possess no power of preservation of vegetable fibre, but 
 they are harmless, and probably aid in the better filling up of the pores of 
 the wood with an unalterable substance. 
 
 Beyond its antiseptic power, carbolic acid, or phenol, possesses a specific 
 poisonous power over the lower forms of vegetable life, etc., which are so ac- 
 tive in promoting the decay of wood. 
 
 2. The action of phenol, or carbolic acid, on iron, is negative. The 
 term "acid," applied to this remarkable antiseptic, might awaken a suspi^ 
 cion that, like the acids familiarly so known, it might corrode metals. But 
 carbolic acid does not act in this manner. It does not even redden vegeta- 
 ble blues, a power possessed by the most feeble vegetable acids. It is 
 called an acid by chemists only in virtue of its combining with bases. It is 
 also called phenylic alcohol with the same propriety that it is an acid. The 
 fact of importance in this connection is, that there is nothing in the dead 
 oil which acts injuriously upon iron, which may in fact be preserved from 
 oxidation by a varnish prepared from it. 
 
 The sanitary characteristics of wood thus prepared are such as greatly to 
 commend its use for the paving of streets in cities. Wood thus prepared 
 neither decays nor retains moisture. Carbolic acid, in fact, where used by 
 itself, mingled with the most offensive sewage and cesspool matter, in- 
 stantly arrests putrefaction, and changes and destroys the nauseating odors 
 of decaying animal and vegetable matters. The sanitary character of the 
 wooden pavement prepared by Seely's method, therefore, can only be good. 
 
 The action of dead oil as a means of preserving wood may be thus sum- 
 med up, viz.: 
 
 1st. It coagulates albuminous substances, and gives stability to the con- 
 stituents of the carrebrum and cellulose of young wood 
 
 2d. It absorbs and appropriates the oxygen which is within the pores of 
 the wood, and so checks, or rather prevents, the exosmosis of the wood)' 
 tissue. 
 
 3d. It resinifies within the pores of the wood, and thus shuts out both air 
 and water. 
 
 4th. It acts as a positive poison to the lower forms of vegetable life, and 
 so protects the wood from the attacks of fungi and other parasites.* 
 
 5th. It prevents the exhalation of any miasmas from the surface of streets 
 paved with wood thus prepared. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 B. SILLIMAN, 
 Professor of General and Applied Chemistry in Yale College, 
 
 *Dr. Lethety, in the Journal of the Society of Arts, June, 1860. 
 
75 
 
 Professor John Torrey, of the United States Assay Office, says : " You 
 have supplied the chief desideratum in the use of timber for pavements, 
 namely, the preservation of the material from decay. By your process, the 
 thorough preservation of the wood by well-known antiseptic and preserva- 
 tive substances, coal oil and carbolic acid, is fully established." 
 
 Yale College Laboratory, 
 New Haven, Conn., March 31, 1868. 
 Mb. W. T. PBIiTON, New Fork : 
 
 My Dear Sir — You have asked my opinion, as a chemist, of the method 
 of preserving timber from decay, patented by Mr. Charles A. Seely, of New 
 York. 
 
 1. Of its efficacy and the general properties of the substances employed. 
 
 2. Of the action on iron brought in contact with timber thus prepared, as 
 in railway and other constructions. 
 
 3. Of its sanitary character when employed for the pavement of cities. 
 
 I. Mr. Seely's patent covers a mode, believed to be new, of applying sub- 
 stances, long known for their excellence in this particular, to the preserva- 
 tion of timber. The substances thus employed are those produced in the 
 distillation of coal-tar, and known commercially as " dead oil." When 
 crude coal-tar is subjected to distillation, the products first removed are 
 chiefly water, holding ammonia in solution, and a mixture of light oils hav- 
 ing a specific gravity less than water ; not over ten per cent, of the crude 
 product is represented in the light oil. This substance, when purified by a 
 second distillation, yields what is known as rectified coal-naphtha. This dis- 
 tillation is effected at a temperature below 370 degs. Fah., and removes from 
 the coal-tar those substances which are injurious to the preservation of wood, 
 viz.: chiefly ammonia and its salts and acetic acid ; while at the same time 
 products of high commercial value are obtained with it, viz.: benzole and its 
 associates. 
 
 The " dead oil," which constitutes perhaps twentyrfive per cent, of the 
 crude coal-tar by weight, distills over at a temperature higher than 340 degs. 
 It is denser than water, insoluble in it, and of a highly complex nature, con- 
 taining naphthaline and its analogues, aniline and its analogues, and carbo- 
 lic acid or phenol. It is the last-named substance which possesses the re- 
 markable antiseptic and disinfectant properties which give value to the dead 
 oil as a preservative agent. Carbolic acid possesses in a remarkable de- 
 gree the smell and taste, as well as the preservative properties of creosote 
 obtained from the destructive distillation of wood, but it is chemically dis- 
 tinct from that substance. Carbolic acid, extensively used in the treatment 
 of putrid sores, and in admixture with sulphate of lime, it forms the agent 
 known as McDougall's Disinfectant. 
 
 The peculiar value of " dead oil," as a means of preserving timber, has 
 been long known and appreciated. 
 
 The creosoting process, as it is called, has been for many years in use in 
 Great Britain as applied to the preparation of railway ties and timbers, and 
 to piles for marine wharves, and with great success. The process of Bethell 
 is the one in general use there. 
 
 Mr. Seely's process claims, and I believe deserves, an advantage in econ- 
 omy of time and in thoroughness. The samples of both soft and hard wood 
 which I have seen prepared by his method, are most thoroughly impreg- 
 nated with the dead oil, no portion of the fibre escaping saturation. 
 
 Phenol, or carbolic acid, exceeds all other known substances in its power 
 of arresting and preventing decay, and the dead oil contains, in addition to 
 this remarkable body, a form of hydro-carbon which hardens on exposure, 
 and being injected into the pores of the wood, fills them, excluding both at- 
 mospheric oxygen and moisture, and finally solidifies the w^hole into a 
 
76 
 
 resinous or pitch-like body almost incapable of decay. The naphthaline and 
 paranaphthaline produced at the close of the distillation are crystalline acids 
 which appear to possess no power of preservation of vegetable fibre, but 
 they are harmless, and probably aid in the better filling up of the pores of 
 the wood with an unalterable substance. 
 
 Beyond its antiseptic power, carbolic acid, or phenol, possesses a specific 
 poisonous power over the lower forms of vegetable life, etc., which are so ac- 
 tive in promoting the decay of wood. 
 
 2. The action of phenol, or carbolic acid, on iron, is negative. The 
 term "acid," applied to this remarkable antiseptic, might awaken a suspi- 
 cion that, like the acids familiarly so known, it might corrode metals. But 
 carbolic acid does not act in this manner. It does not even redden vegeta- 
 ble blues, a power possessed by the most feeble vegetable acids. It is 
 called an acid by chemists only in virtue of its combining with bases. It is 
 also called phenylic alcohol with the same propriety that it is an acid. The 
 fact of importance in this connection is, that there is nothing in the dead 
 oil which acts injuriously upon iron, which may in fact be preserved from 
 oxidation by a varnish prepared from it. 
 
 The sanitary characteristics of wood thus prepared are such as greatly to 
 commend its use for the paving of streets in cities. Wood thus prepared 
 neither decays nor retains moisture. Carbolic acid, in fact, where used by 
 itself, mingled with the most offensive sewage and cesspool matter, in- 
 stantly arrests putrefaction, and changes and destroys the nauseating odors 
 of ^decaying animal and vegetable matters. The sanitary character of the 
 wfoden g^ement prepared by Seely's method, therefore, can only be good. 
 
 The^Sfion of dead oil as a means of preserving wood may be thus sum- 
 med tfp, viz.: 
 
 1st. It coagulates albuminous substances, and gives stability to the con- 
 stituents of the carrebrum and cellulose of young wood 
 • 2d. It absorbs and appropriates the oxygen which is within the pores of 
 the wood, and so checks, or rather prevents, the exosmosis of the woody 
 tissue. 
 
 3d. It resinifies within the pores of the wood, and thus shuts out both air 
 and water. 
 
 4th. It acts as a positive poison to the lower forms of vegetable life, and 
 so protects the wood from the attacks of fungi and other parasites.* 
 
 5th. It prevents the exhalation of any miasmas from the surface of streets 
 paved with wood thus prepared. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 • B. SILLIMAN, 
 Professor of General and Applied Chemistry in Yale College. 
 
 * Dr< Letheby, in the Journal of the Society of Arts, June, 1860. 
 
 

 
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