Experiments upon Hardwoods of Australia. 109 



Of course, the various timbers are properly designated ; 

 and it is to be hoped that these gentlemen will be able to 

 extend their labour* in this direction, as their work derives 

 so much value from the perfect identification of the timbers 

 in hand. 



Mitchell. — These experiments were made upon blue-gum 

 timber only ; the records being taken from Mueller's Euca- 

 lyptographia. The scantlings were' 7 feet long and 2 

 inches square. The specific gravity, elasticity, transverse and 

 tensile strength were tested, and the period of seasoning 

 which each piece had undergone is noted. 



Campbell. — These were tensile tests only, made by 

 the writer upon nine of the colonial woods, a report of 

 which was read to this Society in May, 1879. The sectional 

 area was from one-sixteenth to one -eighth of an inch. The 

 results obtained are much higher than those of Mr. Laslett, 

 but correspond closely enough with those of Mr. Mitchell, 

 and the quotations in Rankin and Molesworth. 



Hurst, Rankin, and Molesworth also give values for 

 different properties of some of the woods, but as these have 

 in all probability been derived from some of the experi- 

 ments already noticed, I have not made use of them. 



In recent numbers of the Australian Engineering and 

 Building News, to which I have contributed some papers 

 on the subject, will be found details of the experiments which 

 have here been mentioned. I will in this paper only give 

 in a condensed tabular form, the mean results of the whole, 

 noting opposite to each the names of the experimenters, and 

 by means of the figures under each name, indicating the 

 particular work done by them. The table is arranged in 

 order of the transverse strength of the timbers mentioned. 



