104 OCCURRENCE OF SAPONIN, ETC. 



and Agrostemma Gitkago. In 1886 Dr. T. L. Bancroft, in a 

 scrub on the Gregory River, by accidentally biting the pod of 

 Acacia delihrota, found that it had a very disagreeable, acrid 

 taste. It seemed so strange that an Acacia should have any 

 but an astringent taste that a quantity of the pods were gathered 

 with a view to ascertain if they contained a physiologically 

 active substance. The result of Dr. T. L. Bancroft's investi- 

 gation was the discovery of saponin in the pods of Acacia 

 delibrata. 



After Dr. Bancroft, Mr. M. Thiel, in 1889, drew attention 

 to the occurrence of a variety of saponin (called moussenin) in 

 the bark of the Abyssinian Acacia Anthehmntica, which is used 

 as a taenicide, or remedy against tapeworm, by the natives, by 

 whom it is alleged to be more effective for the purpose than 

 Kuosso, whilst less disagreeable in taste. Many of the 320 

 species of our Australian Acacias have been found by me to 

 contain saponin all the year round, e.g., the New South Wales 

 species (Acacia vernicijiua, Cunn.;, which is called " dog-wood' 

 by the bushmen around Bathurst, and which is used as a fish 

 poison by them. 



Other species are quite free from saponin at certain times 

 of the year, and rich in it at other times, such as Acacia 

 Cxinninghawii and A. penninervis. These Brisbane "black 

 wattles " blossom in the spring month of September, and show 

 the pretty flowers for about a fortnight. After fertilization has 

 taken place the pods begin to grow. In about three weeks they 

 attain the length of 2 inches, with a narrow width and twisted 

 appearance which has gained them the name of " wattle curls " 

 from the sohool children in the bush. In this state the pods 

 have a purely astringent taste. They contain about 20 per cent- 

 of catechutannic acid, and not a trace of saponin. They 

 continue to grow during the fourth week. The tannin then 

 disappears gradually, whereas saponin by degrees takes its 

 place. The astringent taste gives way to an extremely nauseous, 

 acrid, and disagreeable sensation on the tongue, especially on 

 the back parts and the sides of it. This taste creeps over the 

 whole tongue, if even only the tip of it is brought into 

 contact with the bruised pod. It continues long, and leaves a 

 slight sense of numbness on the tongue. If the juice of the 



