On the characters, properties, and uses of Eucalyptus globulus and other species of Eucalyptus : a lecture delivered to the Fellows of the Royal Botanic Society of London, by desire of the Council, on March 14th, 1874 / by Professor Bentley.

  • Bentley, Robert, 1821-1893.
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the characters, properties, and uses of Eucalyptus globulus and other species of Eucalyptus : a lecture delivered to the Fellows of the Royal Botanic Society of London, by desire of the Council, on March 14th, 1874 / by Professor Bentley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    southern Europe and in many parts of Africa, Asia, and America. M. Ramel not only called attention to the great value of the Euca- lyptus globulus as a forest tree, but also claimed for it the power of destroying the miasmatic influence of marshy districts. It seems clear, therefore, that it is to M. Eamel, rather than to Sir W. Macarthur, that the discovery of this valuable property of Eiku- lyptus globulus properly belongs. Subsequently to the above dates, several notices appeared bearing testimony to the febrifugal property of the bark and leaves of this plant when administered internally—among others by M. Pepin, Dr. Carlotti, of Corsica, Dr. Lorinser, of Vienna, Professor Gubler, and Dr. Maclean, of Netley ; and in 1870 Dr. Gimbert, of Cannes, wrote a memoir entitled ' Eucalyptus globulus: its value in Agricul- ture, Hygiene, and Medicine ;' and again, in the ' Comptes Rendus * for October 6th, 1873, he made a further communication narrating the results of his experiments in Algeria in improving tho miasmatic climate by plantations of this tree, and also published a paper in the ' Archives generale de Medecine,' entitled Etude des Applica- tions Therapeutiques de VEucalyptus globulus. It is these latter communications of M. Gimbert which have been the cause more especially of public attention being at the present time so particularly directed to the uses of this plant. BoTANT.—It would be incompatible with my object in this lecture to enter minutely into a botanical description of this and other species of Eucalyptus ; but we refer those who desire such information to Bentham and Mueller's ' Flora Australiensis,' and content ourselves here by giving some general botanical details. The genus Eucalyptus belongs to the natural order Myrtacese of botanists, the same order to which belong the Myrtle, the Clove-tree, the Pimenta or Allspice, the Cajeput-oil plant, the Pomegranate, and numerous other plants which are well known as ornamental trees or shrubs, or for their timber, or from yielding various valuable medical and economic products. All the Eucalypti (of which 135 species are described in the * Flora Australiensis '), with the excep- tion of a very few and, in some cases, doubtful species, are natives of Australia, where they are commonly known either as Gum-trees, from yielding what are generally described as gummy or resinous products, or as Stringy-bark trees, from their rough fibrous bark. Various other local names are also applied to the different species by the colonists in Australia, such as blue, red, and white gum, peppermint, turpentine, iron-bark, woolly-butt, &c. All the species