Aug. 1, 1805.] THE TECHNOLOGIST, 
THE GENUS ARAUCARIA. 9 
eider them very nutritious ; they also procure a spirit from them "by 
distillation. The timber is easily worked, and takes a high polish. 
Pavon mentions a peculiar fact connected with the height of these trees. 
He asserts that the female is by far the largest, frequently 150 feet, 
while the male seldom exceeds forty or fifty feet. The inner hark of the 
trunk is peculiar from its light, porous nature ; it is very thick. The 
outer hark is also of a great thickness, and of a similar corky con- 
sistence. 
The Bunya-Bunya, Araucaria Bidwilli y Hook., is a noble tree, in- 
habiting the scrubs between the Brisbane and Burnett Rivers, between 
the 26 and 28 ."parallels of latitude, and longitude 152° to 153°*30 east. 
On the east coast of Australia the trees grow in dense forests over a 
tract of country ranging about thirty miles long by twelve broad, where 
they form one of the principal features in the surrounding vegetation, 
being strikingly contrasted by their rigid growth and bright green 
colour. The tree is a magnificent one, growing from 100 to 200 feet 
high, with a stout trunk, scarcely tapering, and covered with a thick, 
smooth bark, often unbranched for half the height, with a conical, loose 
head, overtopping all the other trees of the forest. The branches are 
arranged in whorls, sometimes giving off near the summit as many as 
sixteen in a whorl ; these branches average twelve feet in length, and 
about one and a-half inches in diameter. The young branches are 
arranged horizontally on the stem, but the older ones have a drooping 
habit. The branchlets are disposed in pairs, opposite, about eighteen 
inches long, very slender, sparsely covered with the thin, long leaves ; 
in the younger and terminal branches the leaves are more crowded. 
The cones are very large, quite the size of a man's head, and sometimes 
nearly as broad as long, the top often slightly depressed. The scales 
are large and thick, with an acute ridge running across them, termi- 
nating in a sharp-pointed, recurved spine. The seeds, seated between 
these scales, are also very large, frequently from one to two inches long, 
and sometimes even longer, and quite three-quarters of an inch wide, 
broad at one end and tapering at the other. The cones are produced on 
the uppermost branches of the tree, and one cone frequently contains as 
many as 150 seeds which are freely scattered on the ground as the cone 
ripens. The trees bear fruit plentifully once in three years, usually 
between the months of January and March. At these seasons the 
aborigines assemble from far and near to collect the seeds, which are a 
favourite food with them. They roast them in the shell, crack them 
between two stones, and eat them while hot. In flavour they somewhat 
resemble roasted chestnuts. So well does this food agree with them that 
they are said " to grow sleek and fat " upon it. That part of the 
district where these trees most abound is called the Bunya-Bunya 
country. 
The Brazilian Araucaria, Araucaria Brasiliensis, Rich., is found grow- 
ing at a great elevation, chiefly in the province of Minos Geroes, and to 
