419 
The timbers received were seasoned for a year, and tests of them were conducted 
at the railway workshops at Newport, near Melbourne, from January to April, 1884. 
The mode of testing the various specimens was as follows : 
Two standards, 6 feet apart, were erected to form beaiings for the specimens, which were 7 feet 
long, and If of an inch square. Weight was applied at the centre, where a measure was adjusted to show, 
in inches and parts, t.)e exact deflection at and before breakage. Three specimens of each contribution 
were tested, and the mean result recorded. 
1885. Experiments on the elasticity and strength of Red Gum Timber 
(E. rostrata), made at Sandhurst, Victoria, March, 1885, by the Engineer-in-Chief, 
Railway Department, are quoted at p. 135 of the N.S.W. " Railway Bridges Enquiry 
Commission," 1886, referred to below, p. 421. 
1887. Experiments on the transverse strength of Colonial and other Timber, 
by J. Lunt, Engineer for Existing Lines, Victoria, 15th September, 1887. In fourth 
Progress Report of Victorian Royal Commission on Vegetable Products, p. 488. The 
timber was E. rostrata. See James Mann, below. 
1892. " Tests of Victorian Timbers," by E. R. Meekison (Annual Report of 
Secretary for Mines, Victoria, 1892). 
The pieces tested were nine months seasoned, and were all planed to 1 inch 
square. All the tests were made with the weight in the centre and the ends free; the 
distances given were those between the supports. 
From the tests the following co-efficients of rupture were obtained : Ironbark 19, 
Blue Gum 18, Stringybark 17, Red Gum 7-5. 
L. Length of beam or span ... ") 
B. Breadth of beam ... ! [n incheg 
D. Depth of beam V 
K. Co-efficient of rupture ... ) 
4KBD2 
breaking weight in cwt. 
L 
(The botanical names of the timbers were doubtless E. sideroxylon, E. leucoxylon, 
E. macrorrhyncha, E. rostrata respectively. 
1900. "Australian timber; its strength, durability, and identification," by 
James Mann (Melbourne, 1900). 
The specimens were tested in the Engineering Department of the University of 
Melbourne, and the work, though small, is an admirable one. It not only takes 
cognizance of the effect of various stresses, but goes into the question of the various 
agencies which impair the durability of timber. 
He quotes details of the tests made by Mr. Lunt at Sandhurst (Bendigo) in 1865 
on behalf of the Railway Department. The timber was Red Gum (E. rostrata). 
Details of other experiments by Victorian engineers are also quoted. 
D 
