196 AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS. 
which he stated had been used with success in cases of blight. 
Being anxious to test the efficacy of the remedy, and to ascertain 
whether any bad effects would arise from its application, I placed 
some of it in the hands of Dr. Jockel of this town, who has 
furnished me with the following remarks: ‘I have much pleasure 
in testifying to the efficacy, in cases of ophthalmia, of the plant 
which you so kindly sent me. A case came under my notice a few 
days ago of a drover who was suffering from a severe form of 
purulent ophthalmia, contracted up the country. I made an infusion 
of the plant according to directions, and the first local application 
seemed to have almost a magical effect. The man expressed him- 
self as relieved at once of the intense smarting which he had 
previously suffered. He got on so well that in two days he was 
able to start back up country again, and could hardly express his 
gratitude for the very great relief afforded. Louis C. Jocket.’ 
“T find, from a communication of Baron Mueller, that for 
some time past he has had an idea that AZ/yrzog yne might be utilised 
for medicinal purposes, and that he had actually submitted it to 
Dr. Springthorp, an eminent physician in Melbourne, for the purpose 
of.experiment. The Baron, however, was not aware of its efficacy 
in simple ophthalmic inflammation, and he regarded the discovery 
as interesting. I mention this as a matter of justice to Dr. Jockel, 
who, I believe, is the first medical man in Australia who has proved 
the value of AZyriogyne in a case of ophthalmia. This weed, 
growing as it does on the banks of rivers and creeks, and in moist 
places, is common to all the Australian colonies and Tasmania, 
and it may be regarded as almost co-extensive with the disease 
it is designed torelieve. It is described in the Vora Australiensis, 
vol. iii., p. 553, and figured amongst Baron Mueller’s plants of 
Victoria. In the document relating to the Intercolonial Exhibition, 
1866-67, it is noticed as remarkable for its sternutatory properties, 
and recommended for the manufacture of snuff; and I find that 
Endlicher, in alluding to the species of the genus of AZyriogyne, 
characterises them as herb@ ramosissime acres sternutatorie, 
(Genera Plantarum, p. 440).” 
The Rev. Mr. Hartmann says (Brough-Smyth’s Aborigines of 
Victoria, ii., 173) that this plant is used as medicine by the 
