GUMS, RESINS, AND KINOS. 211 
darkest of wattle-gums. It can usually be gathered with fair 
rapidity without much of the bark adhering. It is scarcely soluble 
in water, but swells up in that liquid to a great extent. After 
several days boiling in a large quantity of water it almost entirely 
dissolves. When quite dry it feels horny under the teeth, though 
with smart blows it may be reduced to powder. Small boys are 
well aware of the jelly which it forms when water is added to it. 
They sweeten it, call the preparation ‘‘ gum jelly,” and consider it 
exceedingly toothsome. The author has seen it exposed for sale in 
Sydney labelled “chewing gum,” and was told by the shopkeeper 
that he can sell all that falls into his hands (which is not much) for 
making jellies, in lieu of isinglass. Some tanners also use this and 
allied gums, with admixture of glue, for sizing leather. 
All the colonies except Western Australia. 
5. Acacia decurrens, We//d., var. mollis, (Syn. A. modllissima, 
Willd.); N.O., Leguminosz, B.FL., ii., 415 
“Silver Wattle,” ‘‘ Black Wattle” of the early colonists of New 
South Wales. ‘ Carrong,” or “‘ Currong,” of the aboriginals of Victoria. 
Forms a lower class gum arabic. It is sometimes substituted 
for that from A. dealba‘a, but it is far inferior. In the Caz. 
Intercol. Exh., Melbourne, 1866, it is stated that the aboriginals 
of the Yarra used this gum for fixing the bottom ends of their 
spears, which were made from a small wattle in the Loddon 
district. 
Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. 
6. Acacia elata, 4. Cunz., N.O., Leguminose, B.FI., ii., 413. 
This gum is in amber coloured tears. The tree itself is of 
very local distribution, and as far as the author’s experience goes, 
the gum is very rare. Out of perhaps two hundred individuals 
examined, only one exuded it to the extent of a quarter of a pound, 
perhaps half a dozen gave a few grains each, while on the remainder 
no trace of gum was visible. It is apparently very similar in 
properties to the gum of A. decurrens, but the author has not yet 
submitted it to close examination. 
New South Wales. 
