Abstract
THE practical importance of this question is indicated in a brief note in the Philippine Journal of Science (vol. 46, No. 2) by C. J. Humphrey, mycologist to the Bureau of Science, Manila. He states that the depreciation of imported automobiles in the tropics from this cause reaches “a staggering figure in proportion to the investment”. Most of the cars in the Philippines are American, a few come from Europe; in either case the woods used in their construction are almost exclusively temperate zone species, selected for other properties than their durability. The decay sets in as the result of moisture in the wood, but, under the conditions in the tropics in the rainy season, water almost inevitably penetrates and, in the humid atmosphere, does not easily dry out again. The author states that “six months under test conditions very highly favourable for decay will destroy for all practical use nearly all the temperate zone woods now used in American or European-made cars”. Up to the present three species of the higher fungi have been observed fruiting on the rotting wood taken from cars; many more species probably contribute, but most of them are Hymenomycetes. The remedies for the trouble seem clear: either the use of the heartwood of durable species of timber, presumably tropical species, by the manufacturer, or else the non-durable timbers must be adequately treated with a preservative.
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Wood Decay in Motor-Cars in the Tropics. Nature 129, 431 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129431b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129431b0