478 



2. In my article " Some of the Pale Hardwoods of New South Wales," published 

 in the " Building and Engineering Journal," Sydney, of 10th September, 1892, the 

 subject is referred to : — 



" I will endeavour, as far as possible, to push botanical names and scientific phrases into the back- 

 ground, but I would venture to sound a note of warning in regard to quacks who profess to deal 

 with our hardwoods without any reference to scientific names. I am addressing a body of gentlemen 

 (architects) whose training lies no t only in the domain of art, but also of science, and I put it to you that, 

 if you would desire more than a smattering of knowledge in regard to our hardwoods, you will find it necessary 

 to occasionally employ botanical names for the sake of precision. You will find that the same timber goes 

 under different names in different districts, and the same name has been employed to designate more than 

 one timber ; hence, to avoid circumlocution, at any rate, it will be necessary to fall back upon botanical 

 names sometimes, as landmarks or starting points. Of course, with some timbers, such as Tallow-wood, 

 there is no ambiguity in this colony, but their number is very few. Tallow-wood is Tallow-wood in New South 

 Wales, one species and no other, although a voluble timber-getter will, after vainly using all his powers of 

 persuasion to prove to you that a certain timber is Tallow-wood, blurt out ''Well, its a bastard Tallow-wood 

 then/' which may mean anything. I therefore employ botanical names (in conjunction with vernacular 

 ones) in this paper, simply to make it quite clear what particular timber I am referring to, and the vernacular 

 names I use are those I believe it is desirable to employ, as far as possible, when referring to the particular 

 species under consideration. In Europe, vernacular names have been in use so long that they have acquired 

 precision of a high order, an.l an architect has only to refer to a timber by its vernacular name for a definite 

 substance to be understood thereby. In our colony, the use of vernacular names as applied to native 

 timbers has often led to uncertainty, disappointment, and dispute, and the architect who desires a fair 

 acquaintance with our native hardwoods must look the facts squarely in the face and endeavouring to 

 tackle the small amount of botany, or rather, use of botanical terms, requisite for their discrimination. 

 My subject is a most appropiate one to bring before architects, as, in one part of the colony or another, 

 every timber I shall bring under review is either used by them in the construction of buildings, or, in case 

 of some of the inferior ones, they are endeavoured to be foisted on the architect under misleading names. 



My efforts for the subsequent thirty years to arrive at a settled timber nomen- 

 clature are, I think, well known. 



3. In the " Report of the Interstate Conference on Forestry held at Perth (W.A.), 

 November, 1917 " (Perth, 1918), I contributed a paper " An attempt to secure a uniform 

 nomenclature for Australian Timbers," pp. 17-22. This paper caused a discursive 

 discussion, amusing for the way in which it disclosed the unscientific ideas of some 

 gentlemen in regard to the fundamental principles of nomenclature. 



I took a list of the principal commercial timbers of each State, from the writings 

 of a recognised authority belonging to each State. The next step was to submit List 

 1 — " Practical unanimity in the use of common names." The cases are, however, few. 

 Then came List 2 — "More than one vernacular name for the same timber "; List 3 is 

 one of " Stringybarks, Ironbarks, and Mahoganies " ; List 4 is " The same vernacular 

 name in use for two or more limbers." Following each list came a commentary and 

 suggestions, without which the lists have little practical value. 



Then came (p. 20) " The question of suppression of names under a single 

 vernacular." After some introductory remarks, I proposed the following terms 

 for the overseas trade, viz., 1, Ironbark; 2. Jarrah; 3. Blackbutt; 4. Box; 5. Spotted 



