3S6 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [June 2, 1920. 



Plants which Produce Inflammation or Irritation of 



THE Skin. 



(Previous references : — May, 1918; March, 1916.) 



I DESIRE to invite attention to the irritating effects of some plants belonging 

 to the Moracc(.B or Moreton Bay Fig family. 



An esteemed correspondent from Southern Queensland and the Tweed 

 River has sent me specimens of Pseudomorus Brunoniana, with this note, 

 dated 28th April : — "The sap causes severe irritation to the eyes. Yester- 

 day a man suffered intense pain for about five hours — s(j bad that he was 

 unable to do any work for the rest of the day. Only a small quantity 

 splashed into the eye." 



This tree is not rare from the Illawarra to Central and even Northern 

 Queensland, and is sometimes known as the " whalebone" tree because of the 

 toughness of its wood. It is one of the woods used by the coastal aborigines 

 for boomerangs. The aborigines of the northern rivers of New South Wales 

 used to give it the names of " mail " and " li^gaulbie." It is also remarkable 

 for the variation in the shape of the leaves on the same tree. 



It is not a little singular that a few days before I received this report in 

 regard to the tree in question, I should have been communicated with by a 

 leading Sydney oculist, who informed me that a patient of his had consulted 

 him in regard to intense irritation of the eye, and the only thing he could 

 trace it to (yet not without an element of doubt) was the climbing fig, Ficus 

 stipulata, so often found on walls and houses in the Sydney district. The 

 patient, a gardener, believes that he rubbed his eyes with his hands after he 

 had been working at this climbing plant. 



I do not consider the matter proved, but the fact that two closely allied 

 plants are accused of causing irritation of the eyes should put people on 

 their guard. 



It will be seen that I have, in this series of notes and articles, recorded a 

 very large number of plants, native and others, whicH have caused irritation 

 of the skin and of the eyes, and a word of caution may not be out of place : 

 that people working amongst plants — be they in the garden, forest, farm, or 

 station — should be on their guard against rubbing their knuckles into the 

 Corners of their eyes when they feel a tickling or irritation there. If medical 

 aid cannot be immediately secured, the patient should very carefully wash 

 his hands with soap, bathe the eyes in cold water, and then dab them with a 

 weak solution of washing soda or carbonate of soda, which are practically 

 the same thing. — J. H, Maiden. 



Grazing Sheep on Vines. 



" Will turning sheep into a vineyard injure the vines 1 I am told that where 

 they bite the vine they poison it right to the roots." The question came from 

 a coastal district, and ttie Viticultural Expert's reply was a clear denial as to 

 the poisoning, but a remark that feeding off the leaves too early interferes with 

 the rijiening of th'^ wood for next s<!ason, and tlierefore weakens the vine. If 

 there is much herbage among the vines the sheep will eat this first, and they 

 can be removed before they daniaye the vines. Depasturing sheep on vines 

 is not recommended, though under drought conditions and shortage of 

 feed practices that are nut orthodox may have to be resorted to. 



