Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies . long our Atlantic coast, and numerous methods of stopping itsravages have been devised. It has been observed attacking the 54 ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERING SOCIETIES. gutta-percha of submarine telegraph cables. Professor Verrill de-scribes its habits and the damage done on the American coast asfollows: It has the habit of eating burrows for itself into solidwood to the depth of about half an inch. These burrows are(nearly round, and of all sizes up to about a sixteenth of an inchin diameter, and they go into the wood at all angles, and are usu
Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies . long our Atlantic coast, and numerous methods of stopping itsravages have been devised. It has been observed attacking the 54 ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERING SOCIETIES. gutta-percha of submarine telegraph cables. Professor Verrill de-scribes its habits and the damage done on the American coast asfollows: It has the habit of eating burrows for itself into solidwood to the depth of about half an inch. These burrows are(nearly round, and of all sizes up to about a sixteenth of an inchin diameter, and they go into the wood at all angles, and are usuallymore or less crooked. They are often so numerous as to reduce thewood to mere series of thin partitions between the holes. In thisstate the wood rapidly decays, or is washed away by the waves,and every new surface exposed is immediately attacked, so thatlayer after layer is rapidly removed, and the timber thus wastesaway and is entirely destroyed in a few years. It destroys softwoods faster than hard ones, but all kinds are attacked except LlMNORIA LlGNORUM ; DORSAL VlEW. ENLARGED TEN DIAMETERS. It works chiefly in the softer parts of the wood, between the hardannual layers, and avoids the knots and lines of hard fiber connectedwith them, as well as rusted portions around nails that have beendriven in, and consequently, as the timber wastes away under itsattacks, these harder portions stand out in bold relief. Where abundant, it will destroy soft timber at the rate of halfan inch or more every year, thus diminishing the effective diameterof piles about an inch annually. Generally, however, the amountis probably not more than half this; but even at that rate the largesttimbers will soon be destroyed especially when, as often happens,the teredos are aiding in this work of destruction. It lives in apretty narrow zone, extending a short distance above and belowlow water mark. It occurs all along our coasts, from Long IslandSound to Nova Scotia. In the Bay of Fundy it oft
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectenginee, bookyear1881
