BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 95 
lonial Surgeon of the colony. Mr. Preiss was requested to 
attend, but he declined doing so; I was summoned as a bo- 
tanist, and obeyed the call. "There were nine of us assembled 
in all. 
It must be observed that there are two distinct varieties, 
if not species, of the leguminous plant* in question; that 
which is found on Blackadder Creek being quite different 
from what grows to the east of the Darling Range. The 
former was first used by us in the experiments. At about 
half past one, p.m., about half a pound of the plant from 
Blackadder Creek, consisting of the young branches, was 
pounded in a mortar, to which a small quantity of water was 
added. The bruised leaves and stems were then thrown 
away, and the water administered to a fine, healthy wether 
sheep, which was marked, and turned out to feed with the 
rest. We next gave half as much of the juice, and a small 
quantity of the plant in its natural state, to a wether goat, 
which ate the plant readily ; and lastly, administered about a 
handfull of the pounded leaves and young branches to a fine 
wether, putting them in his mouth. The animal swallowed 
them, and chewed the cud. We had not intended to give any 
ofthe juice in the latter instance, but to try the effect of the 
plant itself, but through inadvertence, a very small portion 
was also administered. I did not myself expect the poison 
would take effect before next day, but two of our party, who 
went to observe the symptoms in three hours, found the goat 
already dead. The sheep all returned to the pen about five 
o'clock, except the marked one, which lay down, unable to 
walk, and died at six o'clock; and the third animal also 
perished in three hours, not having apparently stirred from 
the spot where it stood when the poison was administered, 
but dropped down dead without a struggle. 
In all these cases, the poison operated much more 
speedily than it does when the animals eat the plant of their 
* They would seem to belong to the genus Gompholobium. 
* 
