252 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
"Desirous of doing the best I wished to have substituted some one
''of more general information and so more capable of the enquiry, but
"as I knew of nobody who had condescended to study sufficiently
"the habits of Fungi, I had no alternative. Therefore, while I might
"feel proud, in a concern of such magnitude of the hopes of being able
"to do good, I could only consider myself as an instrument in the
"hands of Providence selected for a particular department at a crisis
"so momentous as the present.
"In many cases there is but one way to do right and this is often
"hard to find, but sometimes seems so easy that every one is confident
"of success ; this confidence, however, is often delusive as appears in
"respect to the Dry-rot, the cause of which, Confined Damp, is so
"palpable that it might be thought easy to remove,11 yet, from the day
"of King Charles12 to the present time of increased experience and
"improvement, its ravages have become more and more distressing.
"The confidence I feel of proposing a means of eradicating and
"preventing this now so peculiarly unfortunate evil arises from an
"experience that no one else that I know has had so long an opportunity
"of obtaining. The minutiae of my observations are very tedious and
"altogether difficult for me to detail, even to persons of much experience,
"without some danger of mistakes that might lead to much mischief.
"I have seen instances of salutary advice misapplied through a wrong
"or imperfect conception of the principles of it ; I hope, therefore, to
"have time allowed for a fuller report, but since in the immediate
"object of my enquiry, the probability of repairing His Majesty's
"Ship Queen Charlotte which appears to me capable of being repaired,
"the delay of a day is truly alarming, I shall now suggest those means
"Nature has pointed out to me as promising the greatest security,
"happily at but little or no additional expense.
"I first saw His Majesty's Ship the Queen Charlotte on the 24th of
"July and again on the 25th. I found that great quantities of Timber
''had been removed from her and that it was intended still to take
"out more, which appeared to be proper; the lower decks and hold
"were very close, requiring air; there were more or less vestiges of
"Fungi from the middle deck downwards ; they were of the following
"species, Boletus hybridus E.F. tab: 289, being the young state of
"Boletus medulla-panis E.F. 326. (White rugged Soft Fungi), Xylo-
"stroma giganteum (A Gigantic Leather-like Fungus peculiar to rotten
"Oak) E.F. 358. Auricularia pulverulenta E.F. 214 and some others
"of but little consequence. The various habits of these different
"species would, if attended to, point out the proper cautions necessary
"to prevent their growth. There were very little remains of Boletus
"Lachrymans E.F. 113, the best known Dryrot. On the morning of
"the 25th an Hygrometer was left for an hour near the pump well
"in the Hold ; it indicated a very damp air standing at 828.6°. Out-
"side the ship it had stood at 464.2°, perfect wetness being indicated
"by 1000°. I should recommend the general use of this instrument as
11 Methods have often been devised and put into execution which have actually nourished
the evil instead of removing it ; instances of which are recent and well known.
12 The Foudroyant of 80 guns built at Plymouth in 1708 and the Ajax, built by contract in
1798, were nearly destroyed by Fungi in the space of about three years.