Wood-decay fungus fungi of certain types remove cellulose compounds from wood and hence the wood becomes brown colour. Brown rot in a dry, crumbly condition is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "dry rot" in general. The term "brown rot" replaced the general use of the term "dry rot", as wood must be damp to decay, although it may become dry later. Dry rot is a generic name for certain species of brown-rot fungi. Brown-rot fungi of particular economic importance include "Serpula lacrymans" (true dry rot), "Fibroporia vaillantii" (mine fungus), and "Coniophora puteana" (cellar fungus), which may attack timber in buildings. Other brown-rot
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (sometimes known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb and others, in 1877; to oppose what they saw as destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings then occurring in Victorian England; 'ancient' being used in the wider sense of 'very old' rather than the more usual modern one of 'pre-medieval'. Morris was particularly concerned about the practice, which he described as 'forgery', of attempting to return functioning buildings to an idealised state from the distant past, which often involved the removal