1280 ON KINGS AS AN AID IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF EUCALYPTS, 



is the group of Kinos to be avoided by the pharmacist, since each 

 member (as far as they have been examined), contains between 30 

 and 40 per cent of gum. They tend to be perfectly soluble in 

 cold water, and age seems to have comparatively little effect on 

 them in this respect. 



The matter of the uselessness of Kinos of this group for the 

 preparation of tinctures is of such importance to every medical 

 man and pharmacist in Australia, that I make no apology for 

 quoting portion of a recent paper by myself in the Pharm. Journ. 

 of Great Britain. 



" It has been stated that Botany Bay Kino has been procured 

 principally from this species (E. siderojyhloiaj. But what are the 

 characteristics of Kino ? The official Kino ( Pterocarjms Marsu- 

 pium), is, according to the British Pharmacopoeia of 1885, 

 'almost entirely soluble in rectified spirit.' This is an important 

 property, and on it the Tinct. Kino B.P. is based. Works on 

 Materia Medica, while pointing out certain unimportant points 

 of dissimilarity between the official and Eucalyptus Kino, never 

 state that the latter does not dissolve in rectified spirit, while some 

 make the specific statement that it is soluble in that liquid. But 

 my experiments have shown that no Kino is more insoluble in spirti 

 than that of F. siderophloia / , . . The Kino of B. resini- 

 feraj Smith, is also comparatively little soluble in spirit, for a 

 similar reason. For this reason alone, I do not hesitate to say 

 that ' Botany Bay Kino ' is neither the produce of U. siderophloia^ 

 Benth., {E. resinifera^ Smith), nor E. resinifera, A. Cunn. Both 

 these Kinos would be quite useless for the preparation of the 

 tincture, and would never be thought of a second time by any 

 person who had made the experiment on either : it is therefore 

 quite certain that these species have not caused pharmacists to use 

 Eucalyptus Kinos more or less for a century, but rather, it has 

 doubtless been the admixture of such Kinos as these with such 

 Eucalyptus Kinos as are freely soluble in spirit, which has helped 

 to bring Eucalyptus Kino into disrepute." 



