USES OF EUCALYPTS. 43 
Corsica, in his ‘‘ Rendering warm, unhealthy regions healthy by means 
of the Eucalyptus,” cites a large number of instances of improved 
climate attributed to the planting of Kucalypts. 
M. Lambert makes similar statements as to the effect of planting 
these trees in Algeria. M.Gimbert also cites examples of the improve- 
ment of climate in Algeria, as well as in Cape Colony and other parts 
of Africa, due to the planting of Eucalypts. Itis asserted by many 
Californians that the planting of Kucalypts has diminished the amount 
of malaria in central California. Others in various parts of the world 
have made similar claims. 
On the other hand, some who have investigated the subject maintain 
that the fact of the improvement of climate by Eucalypts is not estab- 
lished. Perhaps the ablest of those who have combated the popular 
belief in the sanatory effect of Kucalypts is Prof. Tomaso Crudeli, who 
has investigated the subject carefully in Italy. He insists that up 
to the date of his writing (1886), ‘‘not a single instance of hygienic 
improvement by the sole means of Eucalypti has been ascertained, but 
the possibility of so doing is not denied.” 
Wallace S. Jones, American consul at Rome in 1894, writes as fol- 
lows in Consular Report No. 168: 
In Italy, although the newspapers had persuaded everyone that the farm of the 
Tres Fontane, near Rome, had become healthful by means of the Eucalypti, it proved 
a disagreeable surprise to learn of a sudden outbreak of malaria in 1882 that caused 
much sickness among the farm hands, while the rest of the Campagna remained per- 
fectly healthy. * * * Dr. Montechiare, a practicing physician of Rome, who for 
years was physician to the penal colony at Tres Fontane, tells me that his experience 
justifies him in declaring that no beneficial result against malaria has been derived 
from the planting of the Eucalyptus. 
Those who fail to recognize the beneficial effects of the planting of 
- Eucalypts also call attention to the fact that malaria prevails in many 
parts of Australia where these trees are abundant. It seems to be 
admitted, however, that malaria is absent, or at least not prevalent, in 
those parts of Australia where the Blue Gum, the species that is 
believed to have produced the beneficial result about the Mediterranean, 
is native or thrives. Whether this coincidence, if such it be, is due to 
the natural climate or to the effects of these trees would be somewhat 
difficult to decide. 
It is probable that considerable of the change in the sanitary condi- 
tion of those places said to have been benefited by Eucalypts has been 
due to other causes, such as the making of drainage ditches, etc., and 
this will partially account for the conflicting opinions on the subject. 
When, however, the nature and habit of the trees are considered, it 
is entirely reasonable to believe that to a certain extent they bene- 
ficially affect the atmosphere in the region of their growth. The 
grounds for this belief are: First, their great capacity for absorbing 
moisture from the soil, and thus reducing the quantity of stagnant 
