the results obtained in a long series of experiments made, in 1852-3, by an English manufacturing company, known as the Desiccating Company. A low temperature, and long continuance of the drying process, appear to be the conditions essential to the success of artificial desiccation, particularly with wood intended for cabinet-making, turning, joinery, ornamental work, &c., in which it is desirable, as far as possible, to prevent splitting, warping, and other changes of structure in the material. These results, it would seem, were not secured by the arrangements above described. Some years since, a stove was constructed for Messrs. S. and J. Holme, very extensive builders at Liverpool, for the purpose of drying timber for floors, and other fittings of houses, &c., by the application of Messrs. Price and Manby’s patent warming apparatus; the want of seasoned timber, with the great number of men they employed, being a serious inconvenience and loss. In their large undertakings Messrs. Holme found a difficulty in keeping a stock of dry timber. The dimensions of the stove in which the timber was to be dried was 43 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 17 feet 6 inches high, and the cost of the apparatus was about 150_l_. It was calculated to hold about 30,000 superficial feet of 1-inch boards, which, upon the steam-pipe system, occupied full three weeks in drying. This apparatus of Messrs. Price and Manby, with rather less fuel, was considered to thoroughly dry each stove-full in ten days, thus saving a consumption of ten days’ fuel, independent of the advantages of expediting business. The average temperature was 104°, and as the continuous stream of pure air passing between the metallic plates was divested of its moisture, it carried off the dampness of the timber in an imperceptible manner. An experiment was tried, by having a flooring batten, 7 inches by 1¼ inch, cut from a piece of timber which had been floated, and was as full of water as it could be, placed in the stove; and when the temperature was 102°, it remained there five days, and when sawn down into ⅝ inch thick, and planed, it was found to be perfectly dry throughout. The heat was so gentle, and the evaporation so equal, that the timber was never rent, as when exposed to the air and a hot sun: in short, Messrs. Holme considered it one of the most perfect timber stoves that had been made.