In the interior there were water-logged vaults, and the walls were saturated with damp. It was also seen that from want of proper spouts and drains, near the outer walls, the drip from the large pent roof had fallen into the foundations. In this situation, when the window frames were properly arranged, a drain dug round and from parts of the church, and other alterations, which should long before have been made, were completed, the dry rot vanished, and no more complaints of the foulness of the air have since been heard. We could quote many cases of rot which have been caused from the want of proper drains and spouts. Architects should remember that the feet of Gothic collar roofs have to bear the whole weight of the roof, and unless well seasoned, and carefully protected from damp, leaks, &c., premature decay and dry rot will be sure to occur. It is surprising what injury leaks from gutters will sometimes do. In 1851, Professor T. L. Donaldson stated that “a brestsummer of American timber was used some time since at a house in London: after an expiration of three years cracks began to appear in the front wall. A friend of mine, an architect, was called in to find out the cause; and after examining different parts of the house, was almost giving up his search in despair, when he thought he would have the shop cornice removed and look at the brestsummer. He then discovered that some water had been admitted by accident, and penetrating the brestsummer, had caused it to rot, and crack the wall.” Dry rot was found in the great dome of the Bank of England, London, as originally built by Sir Robert Taylor: it also existed in the Society of Arts building, in the Adelphi, London. It was also found in the domes of the Panthéon, and Halle-au-Blé, Paris; but we hope there is no dry rot in the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, which is constructed entirely of timber, covered externally with lead. The decayed state of a barn floor attacked by rot is thus described by Mr. B. Johnson: “An oak barn floor which had been laid twelve years began to shake upon the joists, and on examination was found to be quite rotten in various parts. The planks, 2½ inches in thickness, were nearly eaten through, except the outsides, which were glossy, and apparently without blemish. The rotten wood was partly in the state of an impalpable powder, of a snuff colour; other parts were black, and the rest clearly fungus. No earth was near the wood.” This oak was probably of the _Quercus sessiliflora_ species; and there was no ventilation to the floor. Mr. John Armstrong, carpenter, employed for many years at Windsor Castle, observed: “I was employed a few years back at a house where I found a floor rotten. We took it up; it was yellow pine; it was laid in the damp, but on sleepers, and the sleepers were not rotten: they were of a different description of wood.” Probably the sleepers were of Baltic red wood.