It was observed that the constituents of wooden artifacts and natural wood buried in the ground over 2,000 years absorb water and disintegrate at different rates; lignin is slowest in decomposing. The rate of recovery of shape and structure of the wood cells when immersed in water or a number of experimental solutions is shown to be affected by this fact. The solutions used include: peracetic acid, chlorous acid, Mangin fluid, Jeffrey's maceration fluid, and Schultze's maceration fluid, all in graduated concentrations; graphs show the rate of swelling of pine, Japanese cedar, willow, and oak, and the reconstitution of fragments is studied and illustrated. These experiments are said to have led to the successful identification of the species under scrutiny.