USES OF EUCALYPTS. 43 



Corsica, in his "Rendering warm, unhealtli}' regions healthy by means 

 of the Eucalyptus," cites a large number of instances of improved 

 climate attributed to the planting of Eucal,vpts. 



M. Lambert makes similar statements as to the effect of planting 

 these trees in Algeria. M. Gimbert also cites examples of the improve- 

 ment of climate in Algeria, as well as in Cape Colony and other parts 

 of Africa, due to the planting of Eucalypts. It is asserted bv many 

 Calif ornians that the planting of Eucalypts has diminished the amount 

 of malaria in central California. Others in \'arious parts of the world 

 have made similar claims. 



On the other hand, some who have investigated the subject maintain 

 that the fact of the improvement of climate bj^ Eucalypts is not estab- 

 lished. Perhaps the ablest of those who have combated the popular 

 belief in the sanatory effect of Eucalypts is Prof. Tomaso Crudeli, who 

 has investigated the subject carefully in Italy. He insists that up 

 to the date of his writing (1886), "not a single instance of hygienic 

 improvement by the sole means of Eucalypti has been ascertained, but 

 the possibility of so doing is not denied." 



Wallace S. Jones, American consul at Rome in 1894, writes as fol- 

 lows in Consular Report No. 168: 



In Italy, although the newspapers had persuaded everyone that the farm of the 

 Tres Fontane, near Rome, had become healthful by means of the Eucalypti, it proved 

 a disagreeable surprise to learn of a sudden outbreak of malaria in 1882 that caused 

 much sickness among the farm hands, while the rest of the Campagna remained per- 

 fectly healthy. * * * Dr. Montechiare, a practicing physician of Rome, who for 

 years was physician to the penal colony at Tres Fontane, tells me that his experience 

 justifies him in declaring that no beneficial result against malaria has been derived 

 from the planting of the Eucalyptus. 



Those who fail to recognize the beneficial effects of the planting of 

 Eucalypts also call attention to the fact that malaria prevails in manv 

 parts of Australia where these trees are abundant. It seems to be 

 admitted, how^ever, that malaria is absent, or at least not prevalent, in 

 those parts of Australia where the Blue Gum, the species that is 

 believed to have produced the beneficial result about the Mediterranean, 

 is native or thrives. V'hether this coincidence, if such it be. is due to 

 the natural climate or to the effects of these trees would be somewhat 

 difficult to decide. 



It is probable that considerable of the change in the sanitar}^ condi- 

 tion of those places said to have been benefited by Eucalypts has been 

 due to other causes, such as the making of drainage ditches, etc., and 

 this will partially account for the condicting opinions on the subject. 

 When, however, the nature and habit of the trees are considered, it 

 is entirely reasonable to believe that to a certain extent they bene- 

 ficially affect the atmosphere in the region of their growth. The 

 grounds for this belief are: First, their great capacit}?^ for absorbing 

 moisture from the soil, and thus reducing the quantity of stagnant 



