V. A dissertation on the worms which destroy the piles on the coasts of Holland and Zealand, by Job Baster, M. D. F. R. S. communicated by the President of the Royal Society. Translated from the Latin by T. S. M. D. F. R. S.

Section I. In the year 1730. the persons appointed to take care of the dikes on our coasts, observed that the piles made of the hardest oak, defending the coasts of the Netherlands against the sea, were eat through in a few months, so as to be broken by the least external force.