TIMBERS. 487 
menced to decay at the centre at or about mid-life, and they had 
become hollow at the root-end of the stem long before they 
arrived at maturity. This remarkable defect being characteristic 
of the Jarrah tree, it follows that no compact and solid square log 
beyond the medium size can be obtained of the full growth, and 
hence the conversion of the faulty trees is necessarily restricted to 
the dimensions of the flitches cut clear of the centre. One 
peculiarity was noticed in the sample referred to; some of the 
logs had cavities or blisters, varying from one to several inches in 
length in the longitudinal direction of the woody layers, and 
spreading from 1 to 2in. concentrically, which occurred like the 
cup-shake, at various distances from the pith, and at intervals of a 
few feet along the line of the trunk of the tree. These cavities 
were partially filled with a hard secretion of resin or gum. From 
what has been stated respecting the Jarrah timber received at 
Woolwich, it will readily be supposed that the authorities there did 
not look upon it with favour, or with any desire to employ it for 
| ship-building purposes. It therefore passed to some of the minor 
services of the yard, and it was while under conversion for these 
ordinary and inferior works that I took the opportunity of making 
the experiments which are given in detail in the tables to follow. 
It is a noticeable fact in connection with the experiments, that 
all the specimens tried proved deficient in strength and tenacity, 
by breaking off suddenly with a short fracture, under an average 
transverse strain of about 686ib. weight only, or about 171.51b. to 
the square inch of sectional area. Since the foregoing was pre- 
‘pared, I have seen some correspondence between the Home and 
Colonial Governments on the subject of Jarrah timber, and also 
between the Governor of Western Australia and the leading ship- 
builders and ship-owners, including Lloyd’s surveyor at Fremantle, 
who had been severally asked to report upon the merits of the 
Jarrah, with a view to getting it recognised at Lloyd’s. Most of 
the ship-builders and ship-owners have reported very favourably, 
and speak of it as a good description of wood. They say that 
when used with iron fastenings, neither material is in any way 
injured by the other, and also what is a little remarkable, that it 
bends well without steaming. In speaking of its merits, however, 
