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:
------------------------------------------------+----------------------
| Parts by Weight.
Calomel, and Corrosive Sublimate. +-----------+----------
| 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.
I. VAPORIZATION.
At the end of April, 1863, when, from the appearance of certain specimens
of carved work, the worm appeared to be developed and active, a large
glass case, made as air-tight as circumstances would permit, was filled
with examples of furniture, &c.
The bottom of this case was covered with white paper, and the specimens
of woodwork were raised above the surface by placing blocks of wood at
convenient points. This insured the free circulation of the vapour over
the whole surface of the objects. A dozen small saucers, with pieces of
sponge saturated with carbolic acid, were distributed about the bottom of
the case.
The raising of the objects on blocks of wood facilitated the placing of
these saucers at any desirable point.
The carbolic acid was, in this experiment, renewed every three or four
days for a month, and a strong vapour pervaded the case for that period,
daring which there was no appearance of worms, dead or alive. At the end
of May the saucers were removed, and the doors of the case thrown open,
so that it might be well ventilated and cleared of vapour, after which
it was closed again; but the saucers were not replaced. This closing
of the case without using the vapour was to prevent the escape of any
beetles which might make their appearance, in the event of the vapour of
the creosote not having destroyed the worms. About the middle of June,
a fortnight after the case was closed again, beetles were seen crawling
upon the white paper with which the bottom was covered. These beetles
would, no doubt, deposit their ova in the usual course, as they could not
escape, and a considerable number of them were found dead upon the white
paper with which the surface underneath the carved work was covered.
In order to test the efficacy of chloroform and benzine, two small glass
cases, as nearly air-tight as possible, were selected, in which were
arranged early in May specimens of ornamental woodwork, all more or less
in bad condition from the worm. The bottom of each, as in the previous
experiments, was covered with white paper; and the objects to be acted
upon raised upon small blocks of wood. In one case chloroform was used,
and in the other benzine in a similar manner to the carbolic acid, i. e.
by placing small pieces of sponge in saucers and saturating them with
the liquid, using five saucers in each case. Both the chloroform and the
benzine had to be renewed much oftener than the carbolic acid, as the
liquid evaporated much quicker.
Within a week after the experiment commenced it was evident that the
action of the chloroform had destroyed the worms as they came to
maturity, and in a fortnight all the specimens of carved work having been
taken from the case, and the dust produced by the action of the worms
shaken out, a number of dead ones were found, as also some dead beetles;
but these were evidently those of past seasons remaining in the crevices
of the woodwork.
On examining the specimens of carved work placed in the case treated with
benzine, there was no appearance of worms or beetles dead or alive.
The two cases, with their contents, were then kept open for a week, and
thoroughly ventilated to clear them as far as possible of all fumes of
either chloroform or benzine.
After this they were closed again, being then free from all traces of
vapour, and were not opened for some months. Throughout the summer, the
temperature being the same as that under which beetles appeared in the
case treated with carbolic acid, no traces of worms or insects were
visible, nor could the remains of any be discovered on the white paper,
with which the lower surface of each case was covered.
It would appear then, as far as vaporization is concerned, that the
action of the vapour of carbolic acid is not sufficient; in fact, it
is sluggish and heavy, whilst chloroform and benzine are volatile and
penetrating. The experiment with chloroform appears to prove that the
vapour kills the worm, and, as no beetles appeared in the case during
the summer, it may be inferred that it _killed all_ the worms within its
influence.
From the pungency and penetrative action of the benzine, as also its
volatile character and the fact that no life in the form of either worm
or beetle was manifested in the case in which it was used, it seems fair
to infer that it is more effective than even the chloroform.
Vaporization on a large scale might be adopted by having a room made
as air-tight as possible, stopping up the chimney, pasting the window
frames, &c., and placing infected furniture in the room, burning
brimstone, or filling the room with fumes of prussic acid, chloroform,
or benzine. It would have to be practised at the time when the perfect
beetles made their appearance; their destruction at that time involving,
of course, the prevention of further injury by their progeny.
II. SATURATION.
The experiments made with bi-chloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate)
and methylated spirits of wine were not so successful as by vaporization,
on account of the woodwork when dry (after having been saturated with the
solution) having a varnished appearance.
No experiment as to the effect of saturation in a solution of corrosive
sublimate in water was made: 1st, because of the great risk to delicate
carvings or pieces of furniture by their immersion in water, or the
bringing up of the grain of the wood by treatment with a brush; and 2nd,
because the vaporization by benzine appeared to be quite sufficient to
destroy the larvæ.
* * * * *
Before terminating this chapter, we trust a few words about carvers and
carvings will not be out of place.
There are two kinds of carvers, the _house carvers_ and the _ship
carvers_; the former are used to flat and square surfaces, the latter to
the rake or fay, as was the old term.
About the period of Louis XIV. Malines was remarkable for its wood
carvers, and the inhabitants might be seen sitting at their doors in the
streets, plying their art in the same manner as now in many of the German
and Swiss towns. Many works of art and decoration of Flemish origin are
still preserved in England;[39] the works of Flemish carvers in wood were
in great esteem, and there are numerous fine examples in the churches
of Norfolk, and other parts of England which may be regarded as their
productions. Evelyn remarked that Gibbons came from the Low Countries.
Grinling Gibbons created a school of carvers in England, and adopted
a style and manner in building up his fruit and flowers to produce a
grand effect. He chose but very few varieties of these out of his own
garden, and it is wonderful how he varied and played with those few. He
originated a peculiar description of light interlacing scroll-work,
which is to be met with in his best works; no one has successfully
attempted to carry it on since his time. There are several examples at
Belton, and in the chapel and state rooms at Chatsworth, in the fine
trophies at Kirthington Park; but the upper part of the reredos of St.
James’s, Piccadilly, is a marvellous specimen.[40] The horizontal bands
on the great organ in St. Paul’s Cathedral are the perfection of this
character of foliated scroll-work.[41]
Gibbons’ carvings have a loose freedom about them. At Chatsworth he
educated his workmen, who partook of his inspiration. There is a great
deal of his work scattered over the rooms, great hall, and staircase of
Lyme Hall, near Disley, which was erected under the direction of Sir C.
Wren. It was executed by the persons who were employed at Chatsworth, and
took nine years to complete.
At Blenheim there are some fine specimens of Chippendale’s work, but
what it all means is a mystery. Such a mixture of scraggy birds, and
flowers cut into shreds, pagodas, and rustic waterfalls--all this fine
workmanship employed to produce nothing but an incongruous whole of
absurd objects. There is a leading line in all these works, indicating
what the old carvers used to call the C and G style; because if you
attempt to draw it, it will resolve itself into these two letters. There
is also the S and G style.
Abolish painting and we shall again have some fine house carvers.
We have already given the conclusions at which the Commission appointed
by the Department of Science and Art arrived, as to the prevention of
decay or attack by these insects, and will now conclude this chapter
by quoting Dean Swift’s recipe for getting rid of the Anobium or Death
watch:--
“But a kettle of scalding hot water injected,
Infallibly cures the timber affected;
The omen is broken, the danger is over,
The maggot will die, the sick will recover.”