74 Keble, Aboriginal Plant Names. [vd."^xxxiV. 



from mer, wnthin, rim or mm, life, ngcr, after, wein(g), warmth, 

 or " life within after warmth " ; moo dee nger wcin, autumn, 

 means " seed after heat " ; and per rig nger wein, winter, 

 " cold (per ring) after heat." This grasp of the plant economy 

 has for the most part arisen by force of circumstances, those 

 plants and their products which constituted staple articles 

 of food compelling attention. The fruits of some Epacridcne 

 were eaten. 



A psychological word displaying observational powers of 

 some order is er vie nel lam (yar ra nil am). Tall SundcM', Droscra 

 auricidata. Backhouse. Er rie or yar ra, hair, and nel lam or 

 nil am, ensnaring (a somewhat free rendering), refer to the 

 sticky fluid exuded by the glandular hairs on the leaves' of 

 this insect-eating plant. 



The monosyllabic Morr, Prickly Coprosma, Coprosma 

 Billardieri, Hooker f., signifies fruit, seed, &c., &c. It occurs 

 as mortt, scrotum, and in moodec e ram, spring, and moodee 

 nger wein, autumn. The fniits of the Prickly Coprosma are 

 edible. Mor i yoke or murr e yuke (mer yuk), " Bidgee-widgee," 

 is derived from mer, inside, and yuk, a covering — a reference 

 to the Bidgee-widgee's burry test. Mer, mur, mir, mourr, 

 &c., have undoubtedly come from moort, a seed, and, by 

 association, inside, behind, deep, below, &c. {cf. morr, supra). 

 Compare mur ri kle from mer, beneath, kul, das mannliche 

 glied, a dress made of strips of possum skin ; mur rum, human 

 body, from mur, within, and rum, life ; mourr ut, bladder, 

 from mourr, within, and yuk, skin ; merri wan (mer yang), a 

 throwing stick, from mer, out of, and wan, to throw. Yuk 

 means generally a protection, covering, skin, shell, &c., and 

 occurs in mur yoke, a cockle ; morr uk, skin ; ber yuke, 

 kangaroo rat (pouch) ; binn uk, a basket ; bo ut, a basket ; 

 tarn uk, a water vessel ; mourr ut, bladder, &c., &c. Mer 

 wan. Snake Orchid, Diiiris peduncnhda, R. Brown, comes from 

 the same roots as merr i wan (supra), the reference in this case 

 being to the edible tuber " from below." 



Ngarn, karn, kourn, &c., means long. Tt occurs in karn, 

 the general name for snake ; kourn, the neck ; and innumerable 

 instances ; long, however, seems to have been one of the first 

 meanings, if not the original one. Nf^aring, as a name for the 

 Snake Orchid, Diuris pcdnnculata, R. Brown, is apt in having 

 as a synonym karn, a snake. Buncc records several words with 

 the guttural ng, thf" same words elsewhere Ixnng recorded with k. 

 Naring f^arn ik (ngarn ngarn uk). Tall Diuris. Diuris louf^ifnlia, 

 R. Brown, com(;s frr)m ngarn. long, " very long " being im])lied 

 by the repetition ; uk, a tuber. The tulx-rs of both of the 

 preceding orchids were eaten. 



