Proceedings of the Royal Societi/ of Vidoria. 125 



represented the accumulation of the observations of many 

 years, and he had listened to considerable portions of it with 

 very great interest. He thought it might be interesting to 

 know what eucalypts grew highest on the mountains. He 

 recollected camping a good many years ago on Mount 

 Hotham, at an altitude of about 5700 feet aliove the sea 

 level. The cam])ing party had tried to utilise the eucalypt 

 found there for tent poles, but as they only grew to a height 

 of 15 feet, this was found to bo a matter of impossibility. 

 On the northern slope of Mount Feathertop, at an altitude 

 of about 5500 to 6000 feet above the sea, he found some 

 eucalypts only about 5 feet in height, and })resumed these 

 were one of the forms referred to. With reference to the 

 height of eucalypts, after a number of actual measurements, 

 he was of opinion that the popular height should be reduced 

 30 per cent. He himself had only come across one tree 

 which was 300 feet in height. Some time since there had 

 been great talk of a tree having measured 460 feet. Actual 

 measurement, however, proved that it was only 219 feet 10 

 inches, or considerably less than half the height with which 

 it had been credited. He was very sceptical, indeed, as to 

 anything over 300 feet. Having been told of a forest where 

 specially large trees had existed, after a seiies of measure- 

 ments, he had not found one over 260 feet, and not many 

 over 200 feet. The re-foresting of parts of Gippsland was 

 a verj^ interesting fact, and one he confessed he had never 

 heard or dreamt of before. The general impression was, that 

 the country had been denuded of its forests, and that by 

 reason of its denudation, the floods and droughts were being 

 rendered more severe. It appeared, however, that there was 

 an opposite action going on, and it would be very interesting 

 to watch and note, if possible, the effect of this upon the 

 rainfall. The red-gum trees about Melbourne, sucli as those 

 in Royal Park, were in many cases dying very rapidly, and 

 he would like to know whether this was the natural decay of 

 nature, or whether it had been accelerated by other natural 

 causes. One of the curious phenomena noticeable in the 

 dense forests of Victoria was the belts of dead trees found in 

 certain places. On some high mountains, there were areas 

 which looked as though they had been cleai-ed, but where 

 this could not possibly have been caused by the hand of man. 

 Near the head of the Yarra, some years ago, he had come 

 across a tract of country which was characterised by this 

 peculiarity. It was one mass of fallen timber. The original 



