BY JAIIE.S M. PETKIE. 425 



There are fourteen species of Macroznmia, four of wliicli belong to New South 

 Wales, and four to Queensland ; four are common to Ijoth States, and two are 

 found in Western Australia. They are confined to the coastal regions of our 

 Continent, and on the Eastern side are not found beyond the Dividing Ranges. 

 There are no native cyeads in Victoria, nor in the great central deserts of Aus- 

 tralia. Macro:amia spiralis has a geographical coast range of over 800 miles ex- 

 tending from north of Brisbane to the Victorian border. 



Evidence of Poisonous Character. 



Nearly all the cycadaceous plants are believed to contain some poisonous prin- 

 ciple in their sap, and it is said to be concentrated in the seeds. This fact seems 

 to be well known to all the native races in the lands where cyeads are used for 

 food. We find that they uniformly pursue an elaborate course of preparation 

 to destroy the poisonous properties. This consists in crushing the seeds with 

 large stones, in washing the pulp in bags laid in running' water for a certain time, 

 and lastly, in drying the mass and heating it over a fli-e. This method of washing 

 and baking the pulp, as used by the Australian aborigines, is almost identical with 

 that used by the natives of Brazil in preparing the arrowroot from the poisonous 

 cassava — Manihot utilissima. 



In this connection also, GreshofE describes how the natives of the Malayan 

 Archipelago eat the seeds of the jjoisonous cyanogenetic plant, Pangiiim edide, 

 but never without submitting them to the same treatment. 



Cycas revoluta, a Japanese tree, and Cijcas circinalis, a tropical East Indian 

 cultivated plant, are both described as having poisonous properties. In preparing 

 the starch or sago for food their seeds are first roasted, and tlien washed in run- 

 ning water for a long period to remove an astringent emetic substance. The 

 aqueous extract is described as fatal to chickens. Van Dongen (23) examined 

 the latter plant in 1903, and mentioned an amorphous glucoside, pakoein, as the 

 poisonous principle, but apparently nothing further was done with it. 



Cijcaif werf/a of Queensland, the lai-gest of all cyeads, is also poisonous (7), and 

 produces a kind of paralysis of the hind limbs in cattle, sheep, and horses 

 rPammel (28), Ewart (29)]. 



In Banks' .Journal (1770) there is an incident recorded, where some of Cap- 

 tain Cook's men found the hulls of the nuts round a desei-ted camp fire of the 

 aborigines on the coast of Eastern Australia. They were thus assured that these 

 nuts were used as food . They found them growing in the bush and ate one or 

 two, after which they became very iU and were violently affected with vomiting. 

 Some of his pigs died and many others after showing very severe symptoms just 

 recovered (1) . Leichhardt also described this cycad and how the natives prejiared 

 food from it (16) - 



Zamia integrifolia of tropical Florida is also used in a similar manner for 

 the preparation of arrowroot. American chemists have attempted to isolate tiie 

 poison, but without success. 



Zamia murieata and Z. Fraseri have the same poisonous seeds, which are 

 treated in a similar manner for the preparation of their starch. The tuberous 

 bulbs also are poisonous. 



Xanthnrrlwea, the Australian gi-ass-tree, though a monocotyledonous plant 

 and therefore far removed from the cyeads, is reported to cause the same poison- 

 ous symptoms as the latter', when the young shoots or green buds are eaten bv 

 cattle. 



