Such in general is the case with beech, elm, poplar, and hornbeam, the capillary tubes of which are always open, or, at least, close very slowly. At the same time it may be said that there must remain ever in these species some parts impervious to injection, whilst it is almost impossible but that a certain portion of the fibres will be more or less incrusted. The sap woods, on the other hand, of every species appear quite pervious. Very little is known of any preservative process adopted in ancient times. Pliny observes that the ancients used garlic boiled in vinegar with considerable success, especially with reference to preserving timber from worms: he also states that the oil of cedar will protect any timber anointed with it from worm and rottenness. Oil of cedar was used by the ancient Egyptians for preserving their mummies. Tar and linseed oil were also recommended by him. The image of the goddess Diana, at Ephesus, was saturated with olive and cedar oils; also the image of Jupiter, at Rome; and the statues of Minerva and Bacchus were impregnated with oil of spikenard. The idea of preserving wood by the action of oil is therefore by no means new; but it is somewhat curious that the earliest modern processes should also be by means of oil. The _oils most proper_ to be used are _linseed_, _rapeseed_, or almost any of the vegetable fixed oils. Oak wood, rendered entirely free from moisture, and then immersed in linseed oil, is said to be thus prevented from splitting: the time of immersion depending on the size, &c. Palm oil is preferable to whale oil, because impregnation with the latter, although in many instances eligible, causes wood to become brittle. It is, however, probable that whale oil, when combined with other substances, such as litharge, coal pitch, or charcoal, may lose much of that effect. As cocoa-nut oil, which is, under low temperature, like the oil expressed from the nuts of the palm tree, is known to be highly preservative of timber and metallic fastenings, we may expect the same result from the latter, and thereby avoid that extreme dryness and brittleness of the timber which Mr. Strange complained of in the Venetian ships that had been seasoned for many years in frame under cover. Cocoa-nut oil beat up with shell lime or _chunam_, so as to become putty, and afterwards diluted with more oil, is used at Bombay and elsewhere as a preservative coat or varnish to plank. It cannot become a varnish without the addition of some essential oil; and the oil of mustard is used; which, of course, will produce the desired effect. In the first volume of the Abbé Raynal, on the European settlements in the East and West Indies, he mentions that an oil was exported from Pegu for the preservation of ships; but as he does not say what oil, no conclusion can be drawn further than as to the probability of its being one of those already noticed.