THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



than a pore-width apart : widely avoiding the pores, rarely a 

 straight interval, very weak, white, thin threads ; many, 16-20 

 per mm. : denser than the ground-tissues. 



Rings. Fairly clear : boundary a narrow zone of wood, poor 

 in pores : contour regular, with long undulations. 



Soft-tissue. Difficult to find, very narrow white borders 

 encircling the pores, visible in the solid only. 



Radial Section. Pores mere striations, minute, shining lines 

 with brown drops here and there. Rays extremely incon- 

 spicuous, dull, white lines, visible in certain lights only. Rings 

 doubtful, a gently shaded, banded appearance. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the rays are minute, 

 colourless lines about o - 2 mm. high : they appear to contain 

 drops of resin at times. 



Type specimen authenticated by Walter Gill, Forest Officer 

 for Western Australia. 



This species is one of the small-pored Eucalypti. It much 

 resembles Gimlet-wood (E. salubris) in structure. 



No. 103. GIMLET- WOOD. Eucalyptus salubris. 

 F. v. M. 

 Plate VIII. Fig. 68. 



Natural Order. Myrtaceae. 



Alternative Names. Fluted Eucalypt (80). Gimlet Gum (67). 



Source of Supply. Western Australia. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight, 65-68 lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 5, compare English Ash. Smell and 

 taste none. Burns fairly well, with a short, lively, crackling 

 flame, little smell : embers glow in still air and consume away to 

 the snow-white ash. Solution with water brown. 



Grain. Very fine and compact, though open : interlaced. 

 Surface dull in all parts. 



Bark. " Smooth, shining, and of a brownish tinge " (80). 

 Thin, smooth, closely adherent, scarcely wrinkled, of a leather- 

 like appearance : dark-brown : pores distinctly visible in 

 transverse section. The trunk of the tree is fluted. My 

 specimen is three-lobed in section. 



Uses, etc. "Poles, shafts, rails — although tough, is worked 

 with comparative ease ; the best wood for engraving purposes 

 known from Western Australia " (80). " Cabinet-work and general 

 purposes " (17). Splits badly, planes very smoothly, and is hard 

 to cut with a knife. A good solid wood. Not ornamental. 



Colour. Dark neutral-brown, with warmer coloured bands. 

 Sap-wood brownish-white, about J, inch wide, sharply defined 

 from the heart-wood. 



120 



