EUCALYPTUS PATENS. 



comparison to the yield from other kinds of woods in different parts of the globe, as shown 

 already in the author's laboratory so long ago as 1866, when, under his direction, some 

 experiments were conducted by Mr. Chr. Hoifmann in this respect. The wood employed was 

 air-dried ; but in noting here the average of yield from the wood of four of the more frequent 

 kinds of Victorian Eucalypts, it should be borne in mind, that the degree and acceleration of heat, 

 to which the wood becomes subjected, exercises a modifying influence on the products ; the 

 following percentage may however be regarded as approximative : — 



Crude wood-vinegar 



Tar 



Unoondensible gases 



Charcoal 



Total 



44 



6 



21 



29 



100 



The contents of xylo-alcohol in crude wood-vinegar fluctuate between 4 and 5 per cent. From 

 100 lbs. of air-dried woods would be obtained nearly two gallons of vinegar of proof-strength, 

 affording by simple chemic processes pure acetic acid, or fit for entering into various dyes, or 

 eligible for combination with many chemical bases, or answering after purification for preserving 

 culinary fruits. The wood-spirit (not exactly alcoholic in the chemical sense) can be employed 

 as a solvent of various resins for varnishes, and also for some other technic preparations. Wood- 

 tar is excellent for protecting iron, timber and other substances against the influence of the air, 

 the application of such tar being more lasting and less costly than that of oil-paint. Should 

 merely crude tar be the main-article to be obtained by secluded combustion of wood, then the 

 common primitive methods, which involve little more trouble than burning wood for coal, might 

 be adopted. 



Explanation or Analytic Details. — 1, an vine:xpanded flower, the lid lifted; 2, an unexpanded flower dissected 

 longitudinally; 3, some outer stamens in their expanded position; 4 and 5, front- and back -view of an anther with part of 

 its filament ; 6, style and stigma ; 7 and 8, transverse section of two fruits ; 8, longitudinal section of fruit ; 9 and 10, fertile 

 and sterile seeds; 11, portion of a leaf; all figures magnified, but to various extent. 



