The EucalyptusAUSTRALIA is a vast eucalyptus forest, with a super-ficial area about equal to that of Europe. Setting aside Queensland, where the vegetation is tropical, the eucalyptus is really the only tree that grows in these regions. In certain parts it attains a prodigious height. I have seen some four hundred feet high, and I measured several that had a circumference equal to that of the famous giants of California. The eucalyptus leaves possess therapeutic properties which science is engaged in utilising, and which make Australia one of the most healthy countries of the world. To cure a cold or to keep off mosquitoes, it is invaluable. As a disinfectant it is without rival; and every one knows how the marshy parts of South Italy have been made healthy by the introduction of this beneficent tree. There are three kinds of eucalyptus, or gum tree, found in Australia, commonly called the red, the blue, and the white gum. The red gum is very hard, and is. used for house building and furniture, and for railway sleepers. The white gum is soft, and serves for little except firewood and fences.The ClimateFrom the beginning of April to the end of October, Australia enjoys a magnificent climate; but in January, February, and March the heat is suffocating. The thermometer varies between ninety and one hundred and twenty in the shade; and, when the north-west wind blows, the atmosphere becomes so frightfully hot, that if you were to pass out of it into the infernal regions, you would need to take your overcoat with you.
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