Note 18 — Chapter I · MY BOYHOOD, AND ENTRANCE INTO THE NAVY.

Whilst serving on the west coast of Africa, my father remarked the destructive ravages made on ships’ bottoms by worms, and, from his chemical knowledge, it occurred to him that an extract from pit-coal, in the form of tar, might be employed as a preventive of the evil. On his return home, the experiment was tried, and found to answer perfectly. Notwithstanding the subsequent refusal of the Admiralty to make use of his preservative, it was at once adopted by the Dutch and elsewhere in the North, and in the case of small coasting vessels is to this day used in our own country, as less expensive than coppering. Had not the coppering of vessels become common shortly afterwards, the discovery must have proved of incalculable value.