108 SELECT PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



forms o£ this speeieSr Seedlings raised on rather barren ground 

 near Melbourne have shown the same amazing rapidity of growth 

 as those of E. globulus ; yet, like those of E. obliqua, they are 

 not so easily satisfied with any soil. In the south of France this 

 tree grew to a height of 50 feet in 8 years. It has endured the 

 frosts of the milder parts of England, with E. polyanthemos 

 and E. viminalis. In New Zealand it has survived the cold, 

 where E. globulus succumbed. E. amygdalina, E. urnigera, E. 

 coccifera, E. rostrata, and E. corymbosa have proved at Rome, 

 according to the Rev. M. Gildas, more hardy than E. globulus, 

 E. diversicolor, E. resiniEera, E. longifolia, and E. melliodora. 

 Professor Balfour observed that E. viminalis has stood since thirty 

 years in the open air at Haddington (South Scotland), attaining 

 a height of 50 feet and a base of 8 feet in circumference ; shelter 

 against hard winds in these cases is imperative. The now 

 well-known medicinal Eucalyptus oU, the distillation of which 

 was initiated by the writer, is furnished in greater or smaller 

 proportion by all the different species. It was first brought 

 extensively into commerce by Mr. Bosisto, who has the cre- 

 dit of having ascertained many of the properties of this oil 

 for teehnic application. 

 It is this species which yields more volatile oil than any 

 other hitherto tested, and which therefore is largely chosen for 

 distillation ; thus it is also one of the best for subduing mala- 

 rian efiluvia in fever regions, although it does not grow with 

 quite the same ease and celerity as E. globulus. The respective 

 hygienic value of various Eucalypts may to some extent be 

 judged from the percentage of oil in their foliage, as stated 

 below, and as ascertained by Mr. Bosisto, at the author's 

 instance, for the Exhibition of 1862 1 — 



The lesser quantity of oil of E. globulus is, however, compensated 

 for by the vigour of its growth and the early copiousness of its 

 foliage. The proportion of oil varies also somewhat according 

 to locality and season. E. rostrata, though one of the poorest 

 in oil, is nevertheless important for malaria regions, as it will 

 grow well on periodically inundated places, and even in stag- 

 nant water not saline. E. oleosa (F. v. M.), from the desert 

 regions of extra-tropical Australia, might be reared on barren 

 sands of other countries for the sake of its oil. According to 



