THE IRREPRESSIBLE EUCALYPTUS.

Kumara Times, Issue 484, 15 April 1878, Page 3

THE IRREPRESSIBLE EUCALYPTUS.

The gnia tree is being cfotfe to death an America. "We thought {Writes the Brisbane Courier) that--having discovered' it aad ; ., flourished under its shade for «o lorig ; j after having turned it into' fences and firewood, and fashioned it into everything from a bridge to' a butcher's block—we knew •soihethitig about it, but we were mere infants in the nursery of scientific dis-co-yen-. '; Where we groj)e darkly for yearn finding • nothing wonderful, our tranK-Pacilic jl'riends at once let in a flood of light ii'nd make a startling discovery, as, for instance, take the following from the San Francisco Mail:— '*' At a meeting of the California Academy, of Sciences, Dr Behr called attention to a eucalyptus tree standing in the grounds of the old German Hospitals on Brannan street. The tree had passed through the fire of August, 1876, and exhibited the peculiarity of resisting the action of the flames—a pi-oporty ; well understood in Australia. Dr Keilogg stated that eucalyptus shingles were in common use in Australia, on account of their being fireproof.. It was impossible to fire a roof made of this material. There were some 132 species of eucalyptus, but all seem to po.-sesa this noncombustible property to some extent. Dr Gibbon said that '..the.-planting of trees iu the public streets would be an important means of checking a . conflagration, and as the eucalyptus seemed to be peculiarly valuable for that purpose and for building, the attention of* the public and timber growers should be called to it."