184 AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS. 
It was first introduced to notice by Dr. Carr-Boyd, of Towns- 
ville, Queensland, about 1880, as a remedy in asthma, bronchitis, 
and other diseases of the respiratory organs. 
The herb from Fiji is said to be of better quality than that 
from Queensland, but inasmuch as it is a common weed in many 
countries, and, moreover, easily cultivated, any demand for it 
could be readily supplied. 
The direction usually given by vendors is to simmer one 
ounce of the dried herb in two quarts of water, and to reduce the 
liquid to one quart; a wineglassful of this decoction is to be taken 
three times a day. If the fame of this drug be maintained, 
doubtless some enterprising pharmacists will present it to the 
public in a more elegant form. 
The smoke, also, of the herb should be inhaled, either by 
means of an ordinary tobacco pipe, or by burning it on a slab. 
In either case, care should be taken to get the smoke well into the 
lungs. 
It is said that alcohol fails to extract the medicinal properties 
of this plant as efficiently as water. 
It is reported to be of service in phthisis, relieving the distressing 
cough in that disease. Nevertheless, it is not an infallible cure, nor 
does it always even give relief in cases of asthma. I have known 
cases in which it has apparently utterly failed. My friend, 
Dr. Thomas Dixson, lecturer on Materia Medica at the University, 
Sydney, says that from his own observations the virtues of the 
plant have been vastly over-rated, and that in reality it is but of little 
value. Still, many cases have come under my notice in which it 
has unequivocally given relief, and I have no doubt that when the 
drug shall have longer stood the test of experience, members of the 
medical profession will largely record their experience of its use, 
and it will be assessed at its proper value. At present, as far as I 
have learnt the opinion of medical men in Sydney on this plant, it 
is only to be considered as one of the numerous remedies which 
give more or less temporary relief, and must on no account be 
regarded as a specific. 
A correspondent from Fiji says that some people prefer the 
herb, as a beverage, to the common China teas. This is, perhaps, 
