254 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
"of every vestige of decay and exposed in an open situation at a dis-
"tance from the ground and allowed to be thoroughly dried before it
"is used again. I need not insist upon the propriety of removing all
"Timber that is so rotten as to be useless.
"These, seemingly trifling preliminaries, if not understood clearly,
"may be carried with honest ardour to such extremes as to contradict
"one another, or through inattention to minutiae may be so executed as
"not to answer the intended purpose and I feel so highly concerned
"that I dread any misapplication. As the assiduous, but misguided
"endeavours of some to do good will establish the foundation of this
"fear, I shall take the liberty to repeat an instance I observed on board
"the Queen Charlotte, and add a circumstance or two which have
"occurred on board another of His Majesty's Ships: 1st in endeavouring
"to keep off rain coverings have been laid so close to the Deck as to
"encourage vegetation by enclosing wet that had accidentally got
"through some holes, in the same way as, if on the ground floor of my
"house on a level with Landsprings I leave a Board or piece of Floor
"Cloth for a few days, the Dryrot is sure to grow under it. On board
"another Ship, the San Domingo, with the laudable design of pre-
"venting the fall of chips, rain, rubbish, etc., into several hollows, these
"hollows have been covered over without clearing away what had
"already got in, thus securing the damp stagnated air with the mis-
"chief it was nursing, which, if increased, will of course have its con-
"comitant evils and besides various species of Fungi, their attendant
"insects, as appears particularly on board this Ship, where the Oniscus
"asellus of Linneus or Common Hoglouse has become so abundant as
"to remind us of the plagues of Egypt and spread abroad so much as
"even to appear at the Officer's meals. On board this same Ship
"much proper attention has been paid to the admission of air by the
"use of Lattice work, yet I noticed with regret that many of the obscure
''parts of the vessel were defective in that kind of cleanliness necessary
"to keep her moderately dry and disturb the haunts of Insects.
"I have been extremely anxious to make this report as soon as pos-
sible ; I could have made several observations relating to the mode
"of stacking the Timber intended for immediate use, of preserving it
"after being wrought, etc., but I was unwilling to enter into the latter
"part of my examination without more information, fearing I might
"say too little or too much to be intelligible.
"The haste with which I have drawn up these observations relating
"to the Queen Charlotte, added to the circumstance of it being the
"first time of my making an Official Report, I beg to plead as an
"excuse for such inaccuracies or omissions as may occur.
"I did not join Mr. Lukin in a report, as I had reason to suppose
"that what he would have said would only have been a repetition of
"former reports, of which he told me he had given many, and I was
"desirous of giving my individual opinion, that, should it be found
"consistent with other reports it might be acted upon with greater
"confidence, but if it differed, the experience of the Board would enable
"them to judge impartially.
"I must now express my gratitude to Mr. Lukin for the assistance