ANT-RESISTING WOODS.
America.—Butternut, pitch pine. (Pitch pine is sometimes attacked.)
Australia, Western.—Jarrah.
Borneo.—Bilian.
Brazil.—The sicupira assú, sicupira meirim, or verdadeiro, sicupira acari, oiticira, gararoba, paó saulo, sapucaia de Pilao, sapucarana, paó ferro, and imberiba, resist the white ant, except in the sapwood. The angelim amargozo, araroba, pitia, cocâo, bordâo de Velha, ameira de Sertao, parohiba, cedro, louro cheiroso, and louro ti, resist the white ant, even in the sapwood.
Ceylon.—Ebony, ironwood, palmyra, jack, gal-mendora, paloo, cohambe.
Demerara.—Greenheart.
Guiana, British.—Determa, cabacalli, kakatilly.
India.—Cedar, sál, neem, kara mardá, sandal, erul, nux vomica, thetgan, teak. (Ants will bore through teak to get at yellow pine.)
Indies, West.—Bullet wood, lignum vitæ, quassia wood.
Pernambuco (Brazil).—Maçaranduba (red), barubú (purple), mangabevia de Viado.
Philippine Islands.—Molave, panao.
Tasmania.—Huon pine.
Trinidad.—Sepe.
In piles of wooden sleepers which have been lying ready for use in India for about six months, at least 10 per cent. have been found destroyed by ants. It has been supposed that the jarring motion of a train on a railway would prevent the white ant from destroying the timber sleepers; but there is reason to doubt this, from the fact that on an examination of the ‘Hindostan’ steam vessel, a considerable portion of her timber framing was found to be eaten away by that destructive insect, particularly in the parts close to the engine and boilers, where there had been the greatest amount of vibration. The telegraph posts are particularly subject to their depredations so long as the timber is sunk in the ground; but when a metallic socket is supplied, the wood is safe from their visits. A further precaution is taken to preserve the lower end of the post by running liquid dammer into the metallic sheath, so that the enclosed part of the post is encased with a coating of resin. The telegraph wires when covered with guttapercha (a vegetable substance) are also liable to their attacks.
Numerous expedients have been suggested for getting rid of this destructive insect, some of which have been successful, but the majority only partially so.
In India, the timbers of a house infested with white ants are periodically beaten to drive them away. Of course, this only succeeds for a short time, as they soon return.
The salt vessels plying on the coast of India use oil of tar, and a considerable quantity of castor-oil, mixed with cow-dung mortar, which, while it adheres to the wood, is an effectual protection against ants and rot. The earth oil, or Arracan oil, is considered as good as creosote to protect wood from ants. It can be obtained at Moulmein and Rangoon, in leathern bottles or skins, at about 6d. per gallon.
It used to be a practice in the West Indies to destroy whole colonies of ants which had built their nests either on trees or under the roofs of houses, by shooting powdered arsenic out of a quill into an orifice made into their covered ways, along which they ascended and descended from and to the ground.
It has been estimated that the depredations of the white ant in India costs the Indian Government 100,000l. a year, which is expended in repairing the woodwork of houses, barracks, bridges, &c.
When Dr. Boucherie gave up his sulphate of copper process for the use of the French public, he received a national reward. If the Indian Government is disposed to give us a national reward, we could show how it may save at least half the 100,000l. a year—which is expended in repairing the damages done by the white ants—with little trouble.
In the Madras Presidency periodical inspections have to be made, not only with regard to the white ant, but with respect to the presence and subsequent germination of vegetable matter or seeds in the mortar. In some instances, where proper precautions had not been taken, roots had formed very rapidly, and of such great size as to bodily dislodge by their pressure large stones from buildings. Therefore, to prevent this germination, a proportion of “Jagherry,” or coarse native sugar, varying from 2 per cent. in ordinary work, to from 5 per cent. to 8 per cent. in arch work, is mixed with the lime.
In 1856, in consequence of the ravages of the white ants in the King’s Magazine, Fort William, India, the flooring and powder racks had to be reinstated. Captain A. Fraser, R.E., had the basement covered with concrete, 4 lb. of yellow arsenic being added to every 100 cubic feet of concrete. In the mortar used for the pillars arsenic was used in the proportion of ½ lb. to every 100 cubic feet of brickwork; a small quantity of arsenic was also mixed with the paint, and ½ lb. (four chittacks) of arsenic was also mixed with every 100 superficial feet of plaster. In 1859 the town mayor reported to the Government that no traces of white ants had since been found either inside or outside the building.
Colonel Scott, when Acting Chief Engineer, Madras Presidency, reported to the Government, December 24, 1858, that the following receipt was used for exterminating white ants in the Madras Presidency, and was found to be very successful:
| lb. | oz. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenic | 2 | 4 | |
| Aloes | 2 | 4 | |
| Chunam soap | 2 | 13 | (common country soap). |
| Dhobies mud | 2 | 8 | (Khar). |
Pound the arsenic and aloes, scrape the soap, mix with mud, and boil in a large chatty half full of water until it bubbles; let it cool, and when cold, fill up with cold water. The mixture should boil for nearly an hour: it is applied as a wash.
The white ants of Calcutta are small in comparison with those of the upper provinces.
Colonel Scott, Chief Engineer at Bombay, records instances of timber being boiled under pressure in various antiseptic solutions, such as sulphate of copper, arsenious acid, and corrosive sublimate, with satisfactory results; but considerable apparatus is necessary, and the expense forbids its use except in large public works. On the other hand, in 1847, Mr. G. Jackson, being engaged under Mr. Rendel, C.E., on works in India, tried several experiments with Mr. J. Bourne, in order to test the possibility of preserving timber from the ravages of the white ant. Ninety pieces of wood, 9 inches long by 4 inches square, saturated according to the different processes of Burnet, Payne, and Margary,[31] under the direction of the patentees themselves, were experimented upon, in five situations, one with a considerable amount of moisture, and four dry; through inadvertency Mr. Bethell’s specimens were only tested in the dry positions. The result was, that where there was moisture the timber was entirely destroyed, whilst where they were kept dry the result was better, but still not satisfactory. It seems difficult to account for these different results obtained by Colonel Scott and Mr. Jackson; but evidently the same strength of solutions, and the same qualities and descriptions of woods, cannot have been used by each gentleman.
Captain Mann and Captain McPherson painted the joists and planking of several buildings at Singapore with gambir composition, and the result was perfect success, although the buildings had been previously infested with white ants. Gutta gambir is juice extracted from the leaves of a plant of the same name (Uncaria gambir) growing in Sumatra, &c., inspissated by decoction, strained, suffered to cool and harden, and then cut into cakes of different sizes, or formed into balls. Chief places of manufacture, Siak, Malacca, and Bittany; gambir is now imported to England to a slight extent. The gambir composition referred to is made as follows: Dissolve three pints of gambir in twelve pints of dammer-oil over a slow fire; then stir one part of lime, sprinkling it over the top to prevent its coagulating and settling in a mass at the bottom; it must be well and quickly stirred. It should then be taken out of the cauldron, and ground down like paint on a muller till it is smooth, and afterwards returned to the pot and heated. A little oil should be added to make it tractable, and the composition can then be laid over the material. To be treated with a common brush. Against the Teredo navalis may be substituted the same proportion of black varnish or tar for dammer-oil, of course omitting the grinding down, which would not answer with tar.
Burnett’s chloride of zinc process is said to be a good preservative for wood liable to be attacked by ants: the zinc penetrates to the heart of the wood.
Creosoted timber, it is well known, resists the attacks of the white ants; but the close grain of the generality of tropical timber renders any attempt to creosote it all but useless. Of course, creosoted fir timber could be, in fact is, exported from England, but the cost of freight and other charges will always make it very expensive, and be a great drawback to its general use abroad. Mr. J. C. Mellis, Engineer to the Government of St. Helena, writes in very high terms of creosoted timber as used there, where the white ant abounds. Between the years 1863 and 1866, experiments[32] were made with many specimens of woods (by order of the Lieutenant-Governor), in order to find out those which would resist the white ant. Teak remained uninjured; jarrah wood was partially destroyed; while pitch-pine, oak, cedar, ash, elm, birch, beech, and mahogany, were quite destroyed.
In Ceylon creosoted timber is not attacked by white ants, but the black coating, if exposed, renders it so heat-absorbing, that it is apt to split, and, unless thoroughly impregnated with the creosote, a road is opened to the inside, and the ants will soon destroy all that part which is unprotected.
Coal-tar will destroy white ants. Some years ago Mr. Shields took short baulks of timber where the ants had commenced operations, and tried the system of pouring a very small stream of coal-tar through the heart of the timber which the ants had hollowed out, and afterwards splitting it open to see the result. He found the white ants completely destroyed; they were shrivelled up like shreds of half-burnt paper by the mere effluvium of the coal-tar.
Creosoting is excellent for railway sleepers, piles, &c., but it will not do for buildings, which the white ants prefer. It is objectionable for dwellings; 1st, on account of its smell, which is disagreeable; 2nd, on account of its colour, black, which is unsightly; 3rd, on account of its inflammability.
With regard to the depredations of white ants, anything of a bitter taste injected into the fibre of the wood prevents their attacks, though it may not be so good as coal-tar; even a small quantity of turpentine has the effect of killing them instantly. Carbolic acid has been used, but its smell is objectionable. In South America, the leaves of the black walnut are soaked in water for some hours, then boiled; and when the liquid has cooled, it is applied to the skins of horses and other animals, to prevent their being bitten or “worried” by insects. We do not know if this has been used as a wash, or injected into wood, to prevent it being “worried” by ants.
It thus appears that there is no remedy generally adopted in tropical climates for preventing the depredations of the white ants; but there is one method very frequently adopted in hot countries of getting rid of them. It is a desperate remedy, we admit, but desperate cases frequently require desperate remedies: it is simply by EATING THEM. Europeans have pronounced the termites to be peculiarly delicate and well flavoured, something like sweetened cream. The termites are prepared for the table by various methods, some persons pounding them so as to form them into a kind of soft paste, while others roast them like coffee-beans or chestnuts. Termites, or white ants, are eaten by various African tribes, both raw and boiled; and it is said that the Hottentots “get into good condition on this diet.” In India, the natives capture great quantities of these insects, which they mix up with flour, producing a kind of pastry, which is purchased at a cheap rate by the poorer classes. In Ceylon, bears feed on the termites. Some of the Africans prepare large quantities of them for food, by parching them in kettles over a slow fire; in this condition they were eaten by handfuls as delicious food. The traveller Smeathman states that he often ate them dressed in this way, and found them to be “delicate, nourishing, and wholesome, resembling in flavour sugared cream, or sweet-almond paste.” In Brazil, the yellow ants are eaten by many persons. Humboldt states that in some of the South American countries ants are mixed with resin and eaten as a sauce. In Siam, ants’ eggs are considered a luxury; they are sent to the table curried, or rolled in green leaves mingled with fine slices or shreds of fat pork. In Sweden, ants are distilled along with rye to give a flavour to the inferior kinds of brandy. Chemists have ascertained that ants secrete a pleasant kind of vinegar, or a peculiar acid, called formic acid.
In Brazil, however, the eating process goes on extensively as follows:
1st. Ants eat the wood.
2nd. Ant-eaters eat the ants.
3rd. Woodsmen eat the ant-eaters.
4th. Wild animals eat the woodsmen.
Teak-oil, extracted from teak chips, was, in 1857, recommended by a Mr. Brown to the Government of St. Helena, through the Government of Madras. Timber coated with this oil, as reported to the Secretary to the Government of Madras by the several executive engineers of the Public Works Department, even when placed in a nest of white ants, was not touched by them. The cost of this oil, in certain experiments made by order of the Madras Government, in 1866, was reported to be 6¾ annas for 1¼ ounce, which is too expensive. In the central provinces the cost would be 1¼ anna per quart.[33]
In the East Indies there are several species of wood-cutter (Xylocopa) and carpenter bee (Xylocopa), which confine their ravages to the wood after it has been felled. The wood-cutter tunnels through the beams and posts of buildings, which they frequent in great numbers. The passages are from 12 to 15 inches long, and more than half an inch in diameter. If the insects are numerous, their ravages are dangerously destructive, and they soon render beams unsafe for supporting the roof.
The carpenter bee of Southern Africa is one of those curious insects which construct a series of cells in wood. After completing their burrow, which is open at each end, they close the bottom with a flooring of agglutinated sawdust, formed of the morsels bitten off during the operation of burrowing, lay an egg upon this floor, insert a quantity of “bee-bread,” made of the pollen of flowers and their juices, and then cover the whole with a layer of the same substance that was used for the floor. Upon this is laid another egg, another supply of bee-bread is inserted, and a fresh layer of sawdust superimposed. Each layer is therefore the floor of one cell and the ceiling of another, and the insect makes on the average about ten or twelve of these cells.
The carpenter bee destroys the woodwork of buildings in the north of Ceylon, but in the south of the island woodwork has two enemies to contend against, viz. the porcupine and a little beetle. The porcupine destroys many of the young palm-trees, and the ravages of the cocoa-nut beetle (Longicornes) are painfully familiar to the cocoa-nut planters. The species of beetle, called by the Singalese “cooroominya,” is very destructive to timbers. It also makes its way into the stems of the younger trees, and after perforating them in all directions, it forms a cocoon of the gnawed wood and sawdust, in which it reposes during its sleep as a pupa, till the arrival of the period when it emerges as a perfect beetle. Mr. Capper relates that in passing through several cocoa-nut plantations, “varying in extent from twenty to fifty acres, and about two to three years old, and in these I did not discover a single young tree untouched by the cooroominya.”
Carpenter Bees “at work”.
Sir E. Tennant thus writes of the operations of the carpenter bee on the wooden columns of the Colonial Secretary’s official residence, at Kandy, Ceylon: “So soon as the day grew warm, these active creatures were at work perforating the wooden columns which supported the verandah. They poised themselves on their shining purple wings, as they made the first lodgment in the wood, enlivening the work with an uninterrupted hum of delight, which was audible to a considerable distance. When the excavation had proceeded so far that the insect could descend into it, the music was suspended, but renewed from time to time, as the little creature came to the orifice to throw out the chips, to rest, or to enjoy the fresh air. By degrees a mound of sawdust was formed at the base of the pillar, consisting of particles abraded by the mandibles of the bee; and these, when the hollow was completed to the depth of several inches, were partially replaced in the excavation, after being agglutinated to form partitions between the eggs, as they are deposited within.”
Fortunately in England the owner of a house has no opportunity of watching (“with an uninterrupted hum of delight, audible to a considerable distance”) the operations of the carpenter bee, on the wooden beams and posts of his building.
We must now consider the ways of the wood-beetle, which will be found described in the next chapter, and only write a few words before closing this. A modern engineer is no sluggard, of that we are certain; but if he intends erecting large buildings in any of the places abroad which we have referred to, he will find it very necessary to pay particular notice of the following words of King Solomon:
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”
Proverbs vi. 6.
CHAPTER IX.
ON THE CAUSES OF DECAY IN FURNITURE, WOOD CARVINGS, ETC., AND THE MEANS OF PREVENTING AND REMEDYING THE EFFECT OF SUCH DECAY.
Although trunks and boxes are of themselves of little importance, they derive great consequence from the valuable deposits of written papers, deeds, books, &c., which they frequently contain, that are subject to destruction from timber-destroying insects. It is well known that the smell of Russian leather, which arises from an essential oil, is a preservative of books. Leather or woods impregnated with petroleum, or with oil of coal-tar (which has a smell not much dissimilar) would be productive of the same effect, because known to be peculiarly obnoxious to insects: these oils are, however, very inflammable.
At all times beech-wood is exposed to the attacks of beetles, and it cannot be used, even for household furniture, without being impregnated with some kind of oil or varnish, as a defence against these insects—a very curious fact, for the growing trees are remarkably free from the attacks of wood-devouring insects. Larch being solid, and its juices hot, pungent, and bitter, is rarely affected with the larvæ of insects.
Mr. Westwood, Hope Professor of Zoology, Oxford, says: “The insects which in this country are found to be the most injurious from their habit of burrowing into the wood of furniture, belong to three species of beetles, of small size, and cylindrical in form (the better to enable them to work their way through the burrows in the wood), belonging to the family Ptinidæ, and known under the systematic names of Ptilinus pectinicornis, Anobium striatum, and Anobium tessellatum.
“In the perfect state, the insects of the genus Anobium are well known under the name of the “deathwatch,” as these insects produce the ticking noise occasionally heard in old houses. It is also the Anobium striatum which is so injurious in libraries; the grub burrowing through entire volumes, and feeding upon the paper, and especially the pasted backs of the books.
“The destruction of these insects, when enclosed in articles of furniture, is by no means easy, although with care much mischief might be prevented. The saturation of the wood with some obnoxious fluid previous to its being used up in the manufacture of objects of value would be beneficial.
“A strong infusion of colocynth and quassia, spirits of turpentine, expressed juice of green walnuts, and pyroligneous acid, have all been proposed. In hot climates the ravages of the Anobium on books have been prevented by washing their backs with a fluid compound of corrosive sublimate (ten grains) and four ounces of alcohol, and the paste used in the book covers is there also mixed with alcohol.”
Sir H. Davy and Professor Faraday hesitated to employ corrosive sublimate as a means of preventing the ravages of the bookworm in Earl Spencer’s library, at Althorp, not feeling certain as to whether the quantity of mercury used would affect the health of the inhabitants. Amongst all the combinations of mercury, perhaps the bi-chloride, or corrosive sublimate, is the most terrible poison. It should be remembered that there are two chlorides of mercury—one the proto-chloride, ordinarily known as calomel; the other, bi-chloride, ordinarily known as corrosive sublimate; the respective compositions of which are as follows:
| Calomel, and Corrosive Sublimate. | Parts by Weight. | |
|---|---|---|
| Chlorine. | Mercury. | |
| Calomel, or proto-chloride of mercury | 36 | 200 |
| Corrosive sublimate, or bi-chloride of mercury | 72 | 200 |
Hence the ratio of chlorine in these two chlorides is as one to two.
Botanists have long used a solution of corrosive sublimate in alcohol, known by the name of Smith’s solution, to preserve the specimens in their herbaria from the aggressions of insects.
The Rev. J. Wood, writes:[34] “I know to my cost sundry Kaffir articles being absolutely riddled with the burrows of these tiny beetles (Anobium striatum), and not to be handled without pouring out a shower of yellow dust, caused by the ravages of the larva. The most complete wreck which they made was that of a New Guinea bow, which was channelled from end to end by them, and in many places they had left scarcely anything but a very thin shell of wood.
“In such cases I have but one remedy, viz. injecting into the holes spirits of wine in which corrosive sublimate has been dissolved. This is not so tedious a business as it may seem to be, as the spirit will often find its way from one hole to another, so that if half a dozen holes be judiciously selected, the poison will penetrate the whole piece of wood, kill all the insect inhabitants, and render it for ever impervious to their attack. The above-mentioned bow cost me but little trouble. I first shook out the greater part of the yellow powder, and then, placing the bow perpendicularly, injected the spirit into several holes at the upper end. The effect was magical. The little beetles came out of the holes in all directions, and not one survived the touch of the poisoned spirit; many of them, indeed, dying before they could force themselves completely out of the holes. The ticking of the deathwatch is, in fact, the call of the anobium to its mate, and as the insect is always found in old woods, it is very evident why the deathwatch is always heard in old houses. There is, by the way, a species of cockroach which acts in a similar manner, and generally disports itself on board ship, where the sailors know it by the name of ‘Drummer.’”
The earliest account[35] we can find of the use of corrosive sublimate to destroy worms in woods is a few words mentioned, in 1705, by M. Homberg, French Academian. In that year he stated that a person of position in Provence, France, knew how to make a parquet floor which would resist the worm, viz. by soaking the wood in water in which corrosive sublimate had been mixed, and this process he had always found to be very successful.
Herr Temmnick preserved his books from the anobium by dipping them in a solution of quassia. Except on a small scale, however, the saturation of furniture seems scarcely practicable. Fumigation seems, however, to be more available. For small objects, the practice adopted at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Professor Westwood’s recommendation, appears good, viz. to enclose a number of volumes in a box, shutting quite close, and placing a small quantity of benzine in a saucer at the bottom of the case. The same plan might be adopted with small ornamental wood-works, enclosing them in glass cases shut as nearly air-tight as possible.
The Report of the Commission appointed by the Department of Science and Art to inquire into the causes of decay in wood carvings, and the means of preventing and remedying the effects of such decay, which was published in 1864, states that the action of the worm in wood carvings may be arrested, and the worm itself destroyed, by vaporization, more especially by the vapour of benzine; and that, after the worm has been destroyed, further attacks from it can be prevented by treating the carved work with a solution of chloride of mercury, either in methylated spirits of wine, or parchment size, according to the surface character of the carving or woodwork; the strength of the solution in each case being 60 grains of the chloride of mercury to a pint of fluid, whether spirits of wine or parchment size. The carving or woodwork should be placed in a box, made as air-tight as possible, but with means of renewing the benzine placed in saucers from time to time as it evaporates without opening the lid of the box. Gilded carved work and panels on which pictures have been painted, and which have been attacked by the worm, can only be treated by applying the fumes of the benzine to the back of the pictures or gilded carved work: there is no reason to suppose that the vapour of the benzine would influence either the gilding of the one or the colours of the other.
The process should always be carried out during the spring and early summer months, according to the state of the temperature and the observations of those in charge of the carved or other work, as to the action of the worm, which is manifested by the fine dust falling from the worm-holes, crevices, &c.
Mr. Henry Crace was engaged in 1855 to restore some of the wood carvings in the Mercers’ Hall, London, which had been perfectly honeycombed by a small brown beetle about the size of a pin’s head. The carvings being first washed, a number of holes were bored in the back by a gimlet, and also into every projecting piece of fruit and leaves on the face. The whole was then placed in a long trough, 15 inches deep, and covered with a solution, prepared in the following manner:—16 gallons of linseed oil, with 2 lbs. of litharge finely ground, 1 lb. of camphor, and 2 lbs. of red lead, were boiled, for six hours, being well stirred the whole time; 6 lbs. of bees’-wax was then dissolved in a gallon of spirits of turpentine, and the whole mixed while warm thoroughly together.
In this solution the carving remained for twenty-four hours. When taken out the face was kept downwards, that the oil in the holes might soak down to the face of the carving. The dust was allowed to remain to form a substance for the future support of the wood, and as it became saturated with the oil it increased in bulk, and rendered the carving perfectly solid.
No insect has since been found to touch these carvings, as they could not subsist on this composition.
In 1855 the carvings of Grinling Gibbons, at Belton House, were in such a condition as to render it absolutely necessary that something should be done to prevent their complete destruction. To this end they were placed in the hands of Mr. W. G. Rogers, who undertook to experiment upon their restoration. This gentleman reported that the first step he took was to have the various pieces photographed, as a means of recording the position of each detail of the ornamentation, &c. The whole of the works were in a serious state of decay, portions being completely honeycombed by the worm. In order to destroy or prevent any future development of the insect within the wood, Mr. Rogers caused the whole to be saturated with a strong solution of corrosive sublimate (bi-chloride of mercury) in water. The colour of the wood, however, suffered so seriously by the action of the mercury that it was found necessary to adopt some means of restoring the original tint. (It gives a dark colour to the wood, which is caused by the metal contained in the sublimate.) This was effected by ammonia in the first instance, and subsequently by a slight treatment with muriatic acid. After this the interior of the wood was injected with vegetable gum and gelatine, in order to fill up the worm-holes and strengthen the fabric of the carvings. A varnish of resin, dissolved in spirits of wine, was afterwards spread on the surface, and then the dismembered pieces were put together in conformity with the photographs taken, as records, prior to the work of restoration having been commenced.
In order to ascertain the present condition of these carvings, seven years after the operations detailed had been completed Mr. Rogers communicated with the Hon. Edward Cust, one of the trustees of the Earl Brownlow who desired him to communicate with the clerk of the works at Belton. Mr. G. A. Lowe. Mr. Lowe, in writing to Mr. Rogers, informed him that “there is never any appearance of worm dust from the very beautiful carving by Gibbons since you preserved it some years back.”
Mr. Rogers stated, at a meeting of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a few years since, that similar carvings at Ditton Park, Cashiobury, and Trinity College, Oxford, are in a state of decay, the surface or skin, in some instances, being, covered with a deceptive white vegetable bloom, which assists in completing the work of destruction.
Painting hastens the work of destruction. In the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, some of the finest carved work at some former time was thickly painted over, preventing the escape of the insects within, which were compelled to feed on the last bit of woody fibre, leaving nothing but the skeleton of what it once was. At Cashiobury, where can be seen room after room of the finest of Gibbons’ work, all this charming carving (about thirty years ago) was covered over and loaded with a thick brown paint and heavy varnish, destroying all the delicate feathering of the birds and veining of the leafage, the repairs being done in plaster or a composition. Flowers, each about the size of an orange, were thus left with nothing but a skin of dust, with just enough fibre left to save them from collapsing in the handling. All the glorious work of Gibbons in the chapel of Trinity College, Oxford, was some years since covered with a dirty, undrying oil.
We dislike painters who paint carvings as much as the servant who applied to Mrs. H—— (wife of the celebrated landscape painter) for an “appointment” as cook, and having ascertained that the master of the house was a “painter,” remarked, “I cannot take the situation, ma’am, as I have never lived in a tradesman’s family.”
It is a difficult process to remove paint from carvings, as it is not possible to scour and wash it off in the ordinary way: it must be eaten off by an alkaline solution.
With reference to the restoration of carvings which have not been painted, but only blackened by time, they must be scoured by the careful hand of an experienced man.
Mr. Penrose, the present architect to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s, a short time ago examined the beautiful carvings in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and he was able to state that they have not hitherto been attacked by worms. “Some portions had been broken by violence, but the state of preservation was marvellous.” Mr. Rogers also observed that “he was greatly and agreeably surprised—contrary to his expectations—to find the carvings in St. Paul’s in so good a state of preservation, and so free from the attacks of insects; but such was undoubtedly the fact. How it was so he was not able to say.” Why was this? Well, Sir Christopher Wren was a wise man, and when he erected St. Paul’s Cathedral, he engaged an experienced mason to remain at the Portland stone quarries, whose duty was to select every block of stone for the Cathedral, and when it arrived in London it was placed on its natural bed. The good results of this precaution can now be seen in the good preservation of the stone at the present time. If he was so careful of the stone for the walls, no doubt equal care was taken in the selection of the wood for carvings. Besides, the instructions[36] to the commissioners for rebuilding St. Paul’s were drawn up with a view of preventing decay. The following is an extract from these instructions:
“And to call to your Aid and Assistance such skilful Artists, Officers, and Workmen as ye shall think fit, and to appoint each of them his several Charge and Employment; to minister to such Artists and Officers, and to all and every other person and persons to be imployed in the said service, to whom you shall think meet, such Oath or Oatlis for the due performance of their several Duties, Employments, Offices, Charges and Trusts to them or any of them to be committed as shall by you be thought reasonable and convenient; and out of such Money as shall be received for this Work, to allow to them, and every of them, such Salaries, Wages, and Rewards respectively as to you shall seem fitting and proportionable to their Employment and the Service they shall do.”[37]
Sir Christopher Wren was descended from Dutch ancestors: he was building for a Dutch king, and we therefore perceive the reason why so much Dutch wainscot was introduced by him into England.
It seems a great pity that the beautiful carvings of Grinling Gibbons and others should be allowed to go to decay for want of proper attention. Why should this be? We are acquainted with some of Gibbons’ carvings, particularly those in St. James’s Church, Piccadilly, London; but whether they are in a state of decay unknown to any one, whether any one looks after them, or whether it is “nobody’s business” to do so, we cannot say. Every now and then the owner of some beautiful wooden carvings suddenly becomes acquainted with the fact that they are thoroughly riddled through by worms, and instead of having them looked after, they are pointed at as curiosities. Even the makers of “old furniture” take care that it shall be bored all over, to imitate the borings of worms.
But what can be the cause of this decay? It must arise from one of two causes; or, it may arise from both, viz. either the wood was not seasoned when fixed; or else the quality and description of the wood for carving purposes was not attended to. There cannot be smoke without cause, and worms cannot exist unless a suitable habitation is first provided for them. Hard white oak is close grained, and will scarcely admit moisture; whilst on the other hand the soft foxy-coloured oak from some parts of Lincolnshire, and other places, is so porous as to imbibe it easily and retain it; and consequently is liable to early decay: in fine, the heart of this is scarcely equal to the sap of hard white oak.
The English woods least liable to the worm for carvings are cedar, walnut, plane, and cypress; those most liable are beech, pear, alder, ash, birch, sycamore, and lime. All the fine carvings at Blenheim, Kidlington, and Wimpole are in yellow deal, while in the age just before nothing but lime-tree and soft wainscot were used. The beautiful carvings of Gibbons, in the chapel of Trinity College, Oxford, are wrought in costly scented cedar and rich dark oak; those in Trinity College, Cambridge, in white lime-tree wood.
There is no doubt that wood to be used for carving should be hot, pungent, and bitter: thoroughly obnoxious to wood-destroying insects. If we cannot obtain this wood in England, we certainly can abroad, and one shipload would last a long time for such purposes. Take, for instance, the Jarrah of Western Australia; the Determa, the Cabacalli, and Kakatilly, of British Guiana; and the Sepe, of Trinidad: these woods are much valued where they grow, and no insects ever attack them. We do not say that they are suitable for wood carvings, but they might be tried, and we certainly know they are not likely to be worm-eaten at the end of a few years. They need not be discarded on account of their hardness; boxwood is hard, but some good carvings have been executed with boxwood. We can relate an anecdote about this wood. On 3rd June, 1867, Mr. W. G. Rogers, the celebrated wood-carver (would that he were alive now to read these words), was asked, at the Royal Institute of British Architects, if boxwood is objectionable for wood carvings,[38] and he did not reply to the question; if he had given his opinion it would have been a valuable one, coming from such an authority. We must therefore get Mr. Rogers’ opinion of this wood in another way. If the reader will refer to the “Reports by the Juries,” English Exhibition, 1851, vol. ii., page 1555, he will find the following words:
“W. G. Rogers, of London.—A cradle executed in boxwood for Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and richly ornamented with carved reliefs; also, a group of musical instruments, among which may be especially noticed a violin. These works show an extraordinary dexterity in the treatment of the material, and the ornaments of the cradle are in excellent taste. Prize medal.”
We have already referred to the Report of the Commission on the Decay of Wood Carvings, and as this report is now rather difficult to be obtained, we propose condensing some extracts from it, which may prove of value to the reader.
Of the three species of beetles injurious to furniture and carved work, the first, Ptilinus pectinicorius is about one-fourth of an inch in length, and the male is distinguished by its beautiful branched antennae; the second, Anobium striatum, which is by far the commonest and most destructive, is about one-eighth of an inch long and of a brown colour, with rows of small dots down the back; and the third, Anobium tessellatum, is about one-third to one-fourth of an inch long, the back varied with lighter and darker shades of brown scales.
These insects are produced from eggs deposited by the females in crevices of the woodwork, from which are hatched small white fleshy grubs resembling the grubs of the cockchafer in miniature, which generally lie curled upon their sides,’ making very little use of their six small feet fixed near the head; it is in this state that the insect is chiefly injurious, although the perfect insect itself also feeds on the wood. These grubs make their burrows generally in the direction of the fibre of the wood; but when it becomes thoroughly dry and old, they burrow in all directions.
When full grown they cease eating, cast off their larva skins, and appear as inactive chrysalids with all the limbs lying upon the breast inclosed in little sheaths: after a short time the perfect insect bursts forth.
The appearance of the insects in the perfect state takes place uniformly during the first hot days at the beginning of summer. Where they take a liking to a piece of woodwork, they seem to devour every particle of it, and as the perfect insects possess large wings beneath their hard wing sheaths, they are often seen flying in the hot sunshine out of doors, evidently in search of suitable woodwork for themselves and their progeny.
Experiments were made by Mr. G. Wallis, Secretary to the Commission, with a view of ascertaining the best means of stopping the decay when commenced. The course pursued, as well as the results arrived at, will be best illustrated by a summary of Mr. Wallis’s report on the subject.
The experiments may be placed under two heads, viz. Vaporization and Saturation.