Dry Rot - Historical Use of The Term "dry Rot"

Historical Use of The Term "dry Rot"

'Dry rot' is an eighteenth-century term that generally described what is now called brown rot. The term was used because the damage was present in cured or dried timber of ships and buildings and was thought to be caused by internal ‘fermentations’ rather than water.

The (London) Times on Tuesday 12 March 1793 carried an advertisement that informs the reader that the British Colour Company, No. 32, Walbrook, London continues to use, manufacture and sell paints prepared with the Oil of Coal, which is of a very penetrating nature, and hardens wood in an uncommon degree protecting it from weather, dry rot and ice.

In the early nineteenth century the rapid increase in instances of timber decay attributed to dry rot (brown rot) in the British naval fleet brought the term into wider usage. Thomas Wade's 'A Treatise on the Dry Rot in Timber' was published posthumously by the Navy Office in 1815 following his investigation of the matter in ships from various countries. The second HMS Queen Charlotte was launched in 1810 and, when inspected, the timbers of the upper decks were found to be infected with 'the dry rot'. By 1816 the cost of repairs for this vessel had exceeded the ship's original construction cost.

Texts published in the nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries also used the term to describe fungi which produced substantial (white colored) mycelium including; Antrodia (Fibroporia) vaillantii.

Eventually, the term dry rot came to apply to only one or two fungi the main one being Serpula lacrymans, in the majority of texts dealing with the subject, predominantly from the United Kingdom. This type of fungal decay subsequently also became known as 'true dry rot'. It has even been proposed to use the term water-conducting fungi in the category of brown rot rather than dry rot. However, although the fungi such as these can transport water, it is disputed that it can use this water to increase the moisture content of otherwise dry wood.