348 



ON WATER FROM THE ROUTS OF THE RED 

 MALLEE (EUCALYPTUS OLEOSA). 



By Thos. Steel, F.L.S. 



The use for drinking purposes of the water or sap which can be 

 obtained from the roots and stems of plants, lias been described 

 by many observers. Eyre* mentions how dependent he was on this 

 source of supply obtained by the aboriginals of his party, in the 

 course of his famous journey along' the Great Australian Bight, in 

 1841. Muellerf refers to the copious store of water in the roots 

 of the Mallee. Cairnst lias some very interesting observations on 

 the same subject In I lie course of a lengthy paper, "Effects of 

 Forest Vegetation on Climate,"§ Rev. \Y. B. Clarke mentions the 

 occurrence of such water and its use by aboriginals and others. 

 Magarey,|| in a valuable paper in which a great deal of informa- 

 tion is gatbered, details a large number of Australian plants which 

 are of value in this connection, and which, in parts of the interior 

 where water is scarce or absent, enable the aboriginals to exist. 



In numerous other Avorks mention is made of this source of 

 supply of drinking water, but I have been unable to Hud any 

 adequate report of a chemical examination, Doherty^J gives a 

 partial analysis of a sample from a species of Vitis growing at 

 Tweed River, New South AVales, in which he found 39 grains total 

 solids per gallon, of which 11 grains were inorganic, and 128 grains 

 organic, chiefly tannin. This is equivalent to 55-8 parts total 

 solids, of which 15-7 are inorganic, and 400 tannin per 100,000. 



* Central Expeditions into Australia, i., p.350. 



t Fragments, ii., p..37. 



X Trans. Phil. Inst. Vict., in. 



S Journ. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales, x., pp. 179-235. 



il Rep. Aust. Assn. Adv. Science, vi., p. (347. 



If Rep. Aust. Assn. Adv. Science, vii., p. 335. 



