XXIIl.] 



IRON-BARK. 



241 



Table XC. 

 Vertical or Crushing Strain on cubes of 6 inches. 



IRON-BARK {Eucalyptus resinifera)* 



is found very widely spread over a large part of Aus- 

 tralia, and is considered to be abundant, especially in 

 South Queensland ; but it is rarer than formerly. It is 

 a lofty and erect tree of moderate circumference, and 

 yields timber of from 20 to 40 feet in length, by from 1 1 

 to 16 or 18 inches square. It is believed to have been 

 named as above by some of the earliest Australian 

 settlers, on account of the extreme hardness of its bark ; 

 but it might with equal reason have been called iron- 

 wood. 



The wood is of a deep red colour, very hard, heavy, 

 strong, extremely rigid, and difficult to work. It has a 

 plain straight grain, and the pores, which are very minute, 

 are filled with a hard, white, brittle secretion. The tree 

 is generally sound, but liable to the defect of both heart 

 and star-shake, and on this account it is not usually very 

 solid about the centre, consequently the timber cannot 

 be employed with advantage except in stout planks or 

 large scantlings. 



It is used extensively in ship-building and engineer- 

 ing works in Australia, and in this country it is employed 

 in the mercantile navy for beams, keelsons, and in many 



* This species is now known as B. siderophloia, and must not be confounded 

 with the B. resinifera of New South Wales and Queensland (see Maiden — 

 " Australian Native Plants," p. 509). 



R 



