STRENGTH AND TESTING OF TIMBER 
303 
Australian colonies, the results of which have been pub- 
lished under the title of " The Physical Characteristics of 
the Hardwoods of Western Australia." A somewhat 
similar work, though not on such a large scale, had been 
undertaken for the Government oE New South Wales by 
Professor W. H. Warren, M.I.C.E., some years earlier. 
The tests made by Mr. Julius were for cross-breaking, 
tension, end and cross compression, shearing along grain, 
hardness, etc., and upon the influence of moisture ; they are 
the most careful and elaborate made upon timber up to 
date, and it is to be hoped that the example thus set will 
be followed up by our own and other Governments, and by 
universities and establishments which possess facilities for 
work of this character, at once useful to the students 
engaged upon the work and of great value to the timber 
user. If there were a large number of careful tests, of the 
character indicated above, carried out by different authorities 
and on various kinds of timber, they might be the means 
of considerably reducing the timber scantlings now used 
in construction. For instance, if in a case where we now 
use 12-inch by 12-inch or 12-inch by 6-inch timbers it 
were found, by the results of a number of satisfactory tests, 
that timber 12 inches by 10 inches or 12 inches by 5 inches 
might be used with safety, it would mean a saving of 16 per 
cent, of timber. This from a monetary point of view 
alone is considerable, but it would also in many cases make 
it easier to obtain timber of the required scantling, which 
in the larger sizes would be a great gain, as the time is 
ajiproaching, and in the case of some timbers has already 
arrived, when the obtaining of large sizes and long lengths 
presents considerable difficulty. 
It must not be thought from the above remarks that the 
author has any wish to depreciate the results of timber 
tests made by experimenters in the past. To Tredgold, 
