Canvas-Destroying Fungi

Abstract

WHEN men again began to take to their tents at the outbreak of war, many noticed that dark brown and black spots, frequently of a diamond shape, were not uncommon oh the canvas. Small, surreptitiously acquired bits began to be scattered around for information as to the identity of the moulds causing the rot. Now it is very surprising that so little work has been done on canvas-destroying- fungi. That canvas is liable to suffer from moulding seems generally to be known, judging from the fact that any material likely to get wetted is usually “cutched.” Shortly before the war aircraft workers began to interest themselves in the fungi concerned in the damage, but it was not until war broke out that one realised the extent of the destruction of sails, tents, etc., by these organisms.