55 



It is also used for shipbuilding, the construction of wharves and bridges, and for railway sleepers, 

 for the dado, flooring, and fitting of houses, and for furniture; it is also an excellent wheelwrights' wood. 

 When polished it very mucli resembles oak, but has a more sparkling grain ; it has a very pretty effect 

 when used for a ballroom floor, or for wainscotting. 



Besides being sawn for almost every purpose, Stringybark is siilit into fence-rails, palings, and 

 shingles. It is certain that if tliis wood and the blue gum, properly prepared, were exported to London, 

 a ready sale would be found for it for the construction of carts and vans. It would very well take the 

 place of English oak and ash used for this purpose, whi<'h are every year becoming scarcer. In l.he 

 Tasmanian International Exhibition before-mentioned, a Stringy bark sleeper was shown by the Government 

 that had been twenty-five years under trafiic. The usual life of this timber in bridges is from twenty 

 to twenty-five years ; sleepers average about fourteen years ; and none of the Government railway buildings, 

 s(jme of whicli were Ijuilt twenty-seven years ago, chiefly of this timber, have yet been renewed. 



Specimens of this timber from Bullarook Forest, Victoria, were examined by 

 Mr. F. A. Campbell {Proc. B. S. Vict., 1879). Ilis values of the tensile strength 

 in pounds per square inch are 8,500, 8,500, and 8,200. They broke with a short 

 fracture. The wood Avas well seasoned, clean, but not quite free from shakes. 

 Mr. Campbell, however, remarked that this sliould not affect its tensile strength to 

 any extent. It was known locally as messmate. Eankin gives the following 

 particulars in regard to the timber of E. gigantea {ohJlqua) : Modulus of elasticity 

 in pounds on square inch, 1,709,000 ; modulus of rupture, 13,000 ; weight, 54 lb. 

 2ier cubic foot. 



ExpERiMENT.s ou the ti'ansverse strength of the wood of E. ohliqua by Baron Mueller 

 and J. G. Luehmann. The specimens were 2 feet long and 2 inches square. 



Deflection. 



Total weight 



required 



to break each 



piece. 



Value 

 of strength 

 o LW 

 4BU= 



Specific Gravity. 



Witli the 



apparatus 



weighing 780 lb. 



At the crisis 

 of breaking. 



Air-di-ioil. 



Absolutely 

 dried. 



inches. 

 ■VI 



•14 



inches. 

 ■50 



•48 



pounds. 

 ■2,053 



1,77G 



1,540 

 1,.332 



1045 

 •935 



•8C7 

 •783 



Some experiments by Mr. James Mitcihell on Tasmanian stringybark will be 

 f')uiid in Proc. Roy. Soc. V. D. Land, II, part i, p. 121 (1853). 



It has also been tested by Mr. James Mann ("Australian Timber," 1900), 

 and ])y Mr. A. 0. Green ("Tasmanian Timbers," 1902). 



Essential Oil. — The leaves yield 0-5 per cent, of a reddish-yellow oil o f 

 mild odour and bitter taste ; specific gravity, 0-899. It boils from 171-195° 

 (Wittstein and Mueller). An oil obtained in Portugal had the specific gravity 



