346 Transactionn . — Miscellaneoiis . 



I also saw a tree of the same species called the " he-oak." 

 This was of fastigiate habit, and without the graceful outline 

 of the " she-oak." 



On reading the diary of Sir Joseph Banks, who accom- 

 panied Captain Cook on his first voyage, I saw mention of the 

 tree " toa," and took notice of its scientific name of Casuarina 

 equisetifoha, and saw an apparent connection between the 

 names " Gasuarms," the bird cassowary, and " Castiarina," 

 the tree. 



When we note the exquisite slender droop of the foliage 

 of the "she-oak" and then compare with it the rounded 

 flexible droop of the plumage of the emu, especially when the 

 head and neck of the bird is hidden or stooped in feeding, the 

 resemblance between the bird and the tree is apparent. 



I am told that the word "casuarina" was adopted most 

 probably by the Dutch as the scientific cognomen of these 

 trees in the eighteenth century ; and I firmly believe that 

 when the Dutch (or those who first named the tree) thus 

 took their cue from the natives of the country where both 

 the bird and the tree were found the natives had previously 

 named the bird and the tree as somewhat resembling each 

 other. 



" Cassowary " is said to be a corruption of " suwarri," and 

 this word should be searched for among the peoples of the 

 Malay Archipelago by those interested in this study. 



One of the members of our Institute has kindly supplied 

 me with the following extract from Webster's " International 

 Dictionary," 1894:— 



" Casuaeina. — [Supposed to be named from the resem- 

 blance of the twigs to the feathers of the cassowary, of the 

 genus Casuarius.] (Bot.) A genus of leafless trees or shrubs, 

 with drooping branchlets of a rushlike appearance, mostly 

 natives of Australia. Some of them are large, producing hard 

 and heavy timber of excellent quality, called ' beef wood ' from 

 its colour." 



Sir Joseph Banks tells us that at various islands visited 

 by him the " e-toa " (or, as he writes it, making the article 

 e — Maori he — a part of the name " etoa ") is the tree from 

 which the natives make their fighting weapons — clubs, pikes, 

 spears, &c. — and also the peculiar beater used by the women in 

 making tappa clothing. 



The Rev. W. Wyatt Gill also gives numerous instances of 

 the usefulness and durability of its wood and of the graceful- 

 ness of the tree itself ; but as no reference is made to the 

 pendulous habit seen in the " she-oak " I feel certain that 

 G. equisetifolia is of an upright growth. Still, in Borneo or 

 Papua, which are nearer to the mainland of Australia, the 

 " she-oak " may likely be found, and there we find the casso- 



