fish poisoning and poisons.— eamlyn-habbis and smith. 9 

 Order MALVACE^. 



THESPESIA POPULNEA, Com 



A less effective fish-poison of the Normanton district, where it is vernacularly 

 known as " Mangrove Apple," " Mangrove Pear," or '' White Mangrove." We 

 have demonstrated its ability to cause stupefaction and death of fish at higher 

 concentrations. 



Order BURSERACE^. 

 canarium australasicum. 



" KAME," Batavia River. 



" TCHALU-JI," Bloomfield River 



(Comprehensive Catalogue of Queensland Plants). 



The use of the wood of Canarium. species as a fish-poison is reported 

 elsewhere (Greshoff) . A specimen of bark and leaves of C. australasicum for- 

 warded as a fish-poison from Darwin by G. F. Hill, however, appeared to have 

 no marked physiological effect on fish immersed in its infusion. 



Order SAPINDACEiE. 



CUPANIA PSEUDORHUS, A. Rich. 

 " GILLIBUDGEN," Cardwell Dist, Q. 

 " KIRIBAN," Hull River, N.Q. 



C. pseudorhus is a small tree growing to the height of twenty feet in 

 scrubs along the banks of freshwater creeks and in forest country adjoining 

 scrubs in the Cardwell district. The tree is said to be not plentiful, but its 

 bark is an effective poison in either fresh or salt water and has a great reputation 

 among the natives {8. Greedy). 



J. M. Kenny, writing from the Hull River, states : ' ' The bark is carefully 

 scraped from the tree trunks and limbs and cooked in native ovens for about 

 half an hour ; then, when taken and put into a pond and well mixed in the water 

 still held in dilly-bags, soon acts on the fish. ' ' 



Maiden^" writes: " It is stated that the aborigines used the pounded 

 bark to stupefy fish in waterholes. It is a native of the north-east of N. S. Wales. 

 and is also found in Queensland." 



The bark is a rapid and powerful piscicide, producing excitement, stupe- 

 faction, and paralysis, and, in concentration 1 : 1,000, death in less than one hour. 

 An infusion of the leaves was found to exercise no notable physiological effect, 

 and the preference of the natives for the bark appears well founded. An 

 infusion of the bark shows the characteristic sapotoxin reaction of frothing at 

 an extreme dilution of 1 : 10,000, and hemolyses blood corpuscles at a concentra- 

 tion of 1 : 14,000. The saponin obtained by extraction with hot 80 per cent, 

 alcohol and deposition on cooling, with subsequent purification by solution in 

 chloroform, gave the characteristic cherry-red colouration with concentrated 

 sulphuric acid, but had preserved neither frothing nor hannolytic power. The 

 leaves were proved saponin-free. 



Gupania sp. are listed by Greshoff as cyanophoric plants. 



"^ "" General Report of the Sydney Intern. Exhibition of 1879. J. H. Maiden : Fish Poisons 

 of the Australian Aborigines, Agricultural Gazette, N.S.W., 1894. 



