THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



Rings. Doubtful : the change in the disposition of the pores 

 may indicate the limit of the year's growth : fast grown and wide. 



Soft-tissue. Very narrowly encircling the pores. It is inter- 

 esting to note that it shows up best in the transparent section 

 when polarised with a dark background and the prisms crossed. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. The pores are prominent, colourless lines. 

 The rays are small colourless flakes, just visible. The rings are 

 doubtful, but the reversed direction of the pores is usually 

 apparent, and gives the wood a waved or cross-grained appear- 

 ance. 



Tangential Section. The pores appear less numerous and the 

 rays are imperceptible with lens, being about o'5 mm. high. 

 Soft tissue usually visible. 



Type specimens authenticated by R. T. Baker and R. B. 

 Hough, and also from logs sent to the Colonial and Indian 

 Exhibition from South Africa. 



No. 108. BLACKBUTT. Eucalyptus patens. Benth. 



As FIG. 69. PLATE VIII. 



Natural Order. Myrtaceae. 



Alternative Names. The Blackbutts of N.S. Wales are E. 

 obtusifolia and E. pilularis (85). 



Source of Supply. Western Australia. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry- weight, 74 Ibs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 4, compare Oak. Smell none or slightly 

 vinegary. Taste none. Burns with a lively, crackling flame, 

 very inflammable, but the embers do not glow in still air, but 

 leave a carbonized stick. Solution with water, very thin brown. 



Grain. Moderately fine and open. Surface dull : rays rather 

 crystalline under lens. 



Bark. \ inch thick (about) : of two layers, the inner of 

 the thickness, finely fibrous, compact, khaki- coloured : the outer 

 thin, smooth, coarsely fibrous, inclined to crumble, separable. 



Uses, etc. " Tough, durable wheels, shafts and farming 

 implements : appears to last well underground, difficult to split 

 or burn" (17). 



Authorities. J. Ednie-Brown (17), p. 26. 



Easily mistaken for many other greyish or brownish Eucalpyti. 



Colour. Greyish-brown : khaki. Sapwood brownish-white, 

 i inch or so wide, well defined from the heart-wood. 



Anatomical Characters. Similar to E. globulus, No 107*. 

 Transverse section : 



Pores. Conspicuous, size 1-2, little variation : irregularly 

 distributed in oblique, straggling lines, often interrupted, 



126 



