Notes headed 'For Preserving Books, Papers, Seeds &c on board ships during a long Voyage in a hot Climate'
Information
Title
Notes headed 'For Preserving Books, Papers, Seeds &c on board ships during a long Voyage in a hot Climate'
Record type
Archive
Original Reference
RHS/Col/3/3/3
Date
c.1820s
Scope & content
Instructions in an unidentified hand for preserving items with a heated solution of sal ammoniac and mercury: 'the heating of the liquor will make it penetrate better into the wood, and no insect will come near where it has been once rubbed over. If this liquor is put into the paste used in the binding of books, the cockroaches or other insects will never touch them, it will likewise preserve the hair and feathers of dried birds and beasts, and the bodies of curious butterflies'. The instructions were copied from a book by John Ellis, 1774, 'An Historical Account of Coffee. With an Engraving, and Botanical Description of the Tree. To which are Added Sundry Papers Relative to Its Culture and Use, as an Article of Diet and Commerce'