88 SOME CAUSES OF THE DECAY OF AUSTRALIAN FORESTS, 
every particle of the charred bare surface had been scraped off 
by the frequency of the operation of the claws of the opossum. 
e 
the opossums took shelter during the day-time. Even in the case 
of trees which have rough bark—as those called “ mess-mate” and 
“ stringy-bark,” the effects of the opossum claws become quite 
visible. The more dull-coloured outer shaggy bark is more or 
less torn off during the numerous ascents of the opossums, and 
the brighter waoueed bark beneath is revealed, so that the high- 
way of the animals is discernible a hu sta yards away. 
The leaves of the dying trees.—As observations were continued, 
leaf presented its full outline, but it was quite otherwise with the 
leaves of the trees which were dying from the unknown cause. In 
this case each individual leaf appeared to be reduced to the mere 
skeleton of itself. This thinning process affected the appearance 
a “spectral” appearance ; ee mesa single branch would present 
this appearance, and generally such ranch would die, — 
the whole tree might not ec In almost all cases in which the 
“spectral” appearance extended sn ~ whole tree, decay and pH 
were the result. In some few cases the pecu liarity was observed 
that after all the “spectral” lias had fallen off a few handfuls or 
very small tufts of cr es would still remain for a time on the top 
of the topmost bra 
only too plain evidence that a large, often the larger, part of the 
substance of the leaf had been torn awa e midrib generally, 
not always, remained throughout its whole length, but the softer 
material constituting the expanse of the leaf was nearly all removed. 
Such treatment of each leaf on the tree of the most luxuriant growth 
was: obviously quite sufficient to produce the “spectral” appearance 
already described. Here also, it is pretty clear, that a probable 
explanation was obtained of the so-called “blight” to which the 
woodman ascribed the decay among the tree 
But now we have to face the question amie what a was 
destroying the leaves in the manner above described? One ready 
suggestion is that caterpillars — do the work. The action of 
these a would, of course, be different from that — 
