SUBSTANCES. REPUTED MEDICINAL. 203. 
In India the leaves of this shrub are used as a cataplasm to 
promote suppuration. (Cyclop. of India.) The warmed leaves are 
simply moistened with a little castor oil. 
Queensland and Northern Australia. 
112. Sida rhombifolia, Zevz., (Syn. S. retusa, Linn.); N.O., 
Malvacee, B.FI., i., 196. / i. 
‘Queensland Hemp.” Called ‘‘ Paddy Lucerne” on the Richmond and 
Clarence Rivers, New South Wales; ‘‘ Native Lucerne,” is a common name, 
also “Jelly Leaf.” . 
This herb is largely used by the natives of India in con- 
sumption and rheumatism. ~ It is given as an infusion, and is said 
to promote perspiration; the leaves. are used as a poultice for 
snake-bites, and in cases of the stings of wasps and other insects. 
It contains a quantity of mucilage, which, no doubt, accounts for 
its use in diseases of the chest. (Pharm. of India.) Its colonial 
name of “ Jelly Leaf” is in allusion to its mucilaginous nature: 
South Australia, New South Wales to Northern Australia. 
113. Smilax slycyphylla, Smtth, N.O., Liliacez, B.FI., vii., 7. 
‘* Native Sarsaparilla,” ‘‘ Sweet Tea.” 
This plant has been recommended as an alterative and tonic 
and anti-scorbutic. It is one of the earliest plants pressed into 
the service of medicine in New South Wales. At p. 230, Fournal 
of a Voyage to New South Wales, by John White, Esq., Surgeon- 
General to the Settlement, London, 1790, (the information must’ 
have been furnished almost immediately after the foundation of. 
the colony), occurs the passage . . . . “good for the scurvy. 
The plant promises much in the last respect, from its bitter, as a 
tonic, as well as the quantity of saccharine matter it contains.’’ 
The decoction is made from the leaves, and is similar in properties 
but more pleasant in taste, than that obtained from the roots of 
S. officinalis, or Jamaica sarsaparilla. The herb is a common 
article of trade amongst Sydney herbalists. 
Glycyphyllin. Glucoside of the leaves of Smzlax glycy- 
phyila; a brownish-yellow, amorphous mass, or by slow evaporation 
of the ethereal solution, concentrically united tufts of crystals of 
aromatic odour and bitter-sweet taste ; dissolves better in hot than 
