EUCALYPTUS GOMPHOCEPHALA. 



The wood of the Tooart is of a pale-yellowish color, remarkable for hardness and strength, 

 very heavy, of a close and twisted or even curled grain, rendering it very difficult to cleave it, and 

 (what in Eucalyptus-timber must particularly be regarded as a valuable quality) showing no 

 aptness to rend. Mr. Laslett, timber-inspector to the British Admiralty, speaks in terms of the 

 highest praise of this wood. According to his authority it is a very sound timber, possessing few 

 or no defects ; it shrinks very little in seasoning, will bear exposure to all the vicissitudes of 

 weather for a long time without being affected by it ; after being exposed for fully ten years it 

 was found to open out with all the freshness of newly-felled timber. It is sought for in shipbuilding 

 for beams, keelsons, sternposts, engine-bearers, and for other works below the line of floatation, 

 wherever great strength is required and a weighty material is not objectionable. Laslett thinks 

 that it would also make good piles for piers and supports in bridges, and likely be useful in 

 the framing of dock-gates. Its toughness befits this wood specially for wheelwrights' work. 

 Experiments on its strength gave the following results : Average of six tests for transverse strain 

 S = 2,701, compared with 2,117 for British Oak; direct cohesion (tensile strength) per square inch 

 10,284 Ibs. against 7,571 for Oak ; vertical or crushing strength per square inch 4-174 tons 

 against 2' 194 tons for Oak. The specific gravity of Tooart-wood was found to be in average 1,169 

 (Laslett, Timber and Timber-trees pp. 188-189). Logs 45 feet long and 28 inches square have 

 been obtained. 



Wherever in mild climes limestone-country near the sea-shore is to be clothed with forest- 

 vegetation, the Tooart would claim indeed high consideration among hardwood-trees ; it was first 

 brought under culture in the Melbourne Botanic Garden now many years ago. 



The tree is in flower from January till June. 



EXPLANATION OF ANALYTIC DETAILS. 1, unexpanded flower, the lid lifted ; 2, longitudinal section of the 

 same ; 3, some stamens in situ ; 4 and 5, front- and back -view of an anther with portion of its filament ; 

 6, style and stigma; 7 and 8, transverse and longitudinal section of a fruit; 9 and 10, fertile and sterile seeds; 

 11, portion of a leaf ; all magnified, but variously. 



