TIMBERS. 509 
purposes ; it is not liable to shrink, and it lasts well underground. 
The Rey. Dr, Woolls speaks of its usefulness for fencing, beams, 
etc., and says that it is very durable. Rafters of this wood last for 
upwards of fifty years, as for instance in St, John’s Church, 
Parramatta (erected in 1798), which were taken down in 1852, and 
found to be in a perfect state of preservation. But in speaking of 
lengthened tests, it must not be forgotten that British Oak, for 
instance, has remained intact, when used in buildings, for hundreds 
of years, and however certain in our mind we may be of the 
durability of such timbers as /. res¢nzfera, the period of their use 
has been but short up to the present. 
The description of the timber of the ‘Ironbark Tree” (Z. 
resinifera), Laslett, Zz?mber and Timber Trees, 199 ef seq, refers to 
LE, siderophlota, to which species it has been transferred in the 
present work, see p. 516. 
The following brief descriptions of small timbers in the 
Technological Museum allude to authentic specimens of JZ. 
resinifera, Smith. They are all from New South Wales. 
1, “ Red Mahogany.’’ Very dark red, difficult to work, a sound 
timber, hardly a trace of a shake, diameter, gin. (Milton, near 
Ulladulla). 2. ‘‘ Mahogany.” Light-brown, very heavy, seasons 
fairly well; diameter, 2ft. (Eastern N.S.W.) 3. Dark red colour, 
exceedingly good to work, close, smooth grain, a heavy timber, 
very strong and durable. This specimen was taken from the roof 
in the Church at Parramatta (wide supra), No. 44, London Exh. 
Cat., 1862, No. 241, Paris Exh. Cat., 1855. Its ordinary name 
was ‘‘ Mahogany,” and the aboriginal name in Cumberland and 
Camden “ Booah.’”’ Diameter, 36 to 60in.; height, 60 to 130ft. 
“A noble timber tree, the wood prized for its strength and 
durability.” 4. ‘‘A rare variety found at Appin; the timber 
apparently a good hard wood, No. 37, London, 254, Paris, may 
certainly be assigned to this species. It tears a little, and has a 
gum-vein, otherwise it cannot be distinguished from (3). 
Writing to me from Oporto, Portugal, Mr. W. C. Tait says: 
‘This tree grows very well in this country. It is a hardier tree 
than Z. globulus, standing both drought and cold better when 
