FROM NORTH-WESTERN QUEENSLAND. 71 
cavity. This poultice was renewed four times per diem; and in 
five days the ulcer had disappeared. I have tried this form of 
poultice several times since, and ever with the same result. As 
this small tree occurs in very many places throughout the colony, 
its properties are well worthy of being made public. 
Lrythrea australis, R. Br., I have found of use as a tonic in 
febrile complaints. 
Petalostigma quadriloculare, F. von Muell., is a useful remedy 
in fever, low or intermittent, ten-grain doses of the dried bark 
three times per diem often producing a favourable result. The 
ripe fruit, which is of a most intense bitterness, is a valuable 
vermifuge in horses. I have used it repeatedly, and with success, 
in my stud. 
Andropogon citreus, R. Br., makes a useful tea in fevers. I 
found it growing at the native wells—the easternmost source of 
the Burdekin river—situate on the telegraph-line between Cash- 
mere and Junction Creek. I know of two plants used by the 
aborigines for syphilitic disease ; but I have not been enabled to 
test their efficacy to my satisfaction; hence I refrain from re- 
cording them. No doubt many more valuable plants exist, and 
only require patience and intelligent research to test their 
value. Only a few months ago the Euphorbia pilulifera, L., was 
acommon weed, uncared for by any one. Now it is largely used 
by nearly all who suffer from asthma. 
Datura alba, Nees, a most poisonous plant, which grows on 
nearly all our northern rivers, proves fatal to numbers of horses 
and cattle every year. This plant is also valuable in asthma, 
but leaves a sensation of nausea and headache which is very 
distressing. 
The aborigines use several species of Malvaceous shrubs, obtain- 
ing a mucilaginous drink which proves beneficial in many cases. 
Roots are also used in this manner, being roasted, then pounded, 
and the mucilage sucked out of them. They havea rough method 
of obtaining the starch from seeds, roots, and bulbs, which they 
accomplish by pounding and trituration, allowing the starch- 
grains to settle on the bottom of a large ‘‘ cooloomen," or canoe- 
shaped basin. The water is then poured off, leaving a thick 
cake of hard starch which is baked into cakes. It resembles 
our arrowroot or corn-flour in substance, and is not at all 
unpalatable. 
