458 



Commercial Applications of Eucalyptus Oils. 



The various types of Eucalyptus oils find employment in many ways, and 

 new uses for them are frequently being discovered. The industry to-day has 

 reached very fair dimensions in Australia, and the outlook for the future 

 utilisation of these oils in new branches of manufacture is most promising. 



It is not generally known, however, that among the first natural raw 

 products exported from Australia was Eucalyptus oil. In the " Journal of a 

 Voyage to New South Wales," by John White, Esq., Surgeon-General to the 

 Settlement, and published in London, 1790, is this statement in the appendix, 

 p. 227 : — " The name of ' Peppermint Tree ' has been given to this plant by 

 Mr. White on account of the very great resemblance between the essential oil 

 drawn from its leaves and that obtained from the ' Peppermint ' {Mentha piperita) 

 which grows in England. This oil was found by Mr. White to be much more 

 efficacious in removing all cholicky complaints than that of the English 

 ' Peppermint,' which he attributes to its being less pungent and more aromatic. 

 A quart of the oil has been sent by him to Mr. Wilson." 



The above, written by Dr. j. E- Smith (founder of the Linnean Society) 

 shows, we think, that the credit for being the first to produce and use 

 Eucalyptus oil therapeutically was Surgeon-General White, and to him thus 

 belongs the honour of founding the Eucalyptus oil industry. 



Mr. Maiden, however, gives the credit to Surgeon Considen, when 

 naming a species after that gentleman, Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S.W., Vol. 29, 

 1904, p. 477. 



In Considen's letter to Sir Joseph Banks, dated Port Jackson, 18th 

 November, 1788, and published in the Historical Records of New South 

 Wales, Vol. 1, part n, p. 220, is found the following paragraph in this 

 connection : — 



" This country produces a variety of flowers and shrubs totally unknown 

 in Europe, and five or six species of wild nryrtle, some of which I have sent to 

 you dried. An infusion of the leaves of one sort is a mild and safe astringent 

 in the treatment of dysentery. We have a large peppermint tree, which is 

 equal, if not superior, to our English peppermint. I have sent you a specimen 

 of it. If there is any merit in applying these and many other simples to the 

 benefit of the poor wretches here, I certainly claim it, being the first who 

 discovered and recommended them." 



It seems to us that Considen worked on the native plants mentioned in 

 other directions, at any rate, he makes no claim whatever for the oil, nor is the 

 word oil mentioned in his letter. Unless further evidence is produced, it is 

 difficult to see how Considen can be acclaimed as the founder of the Eucalyptus 

 oil industry. 



Among Sir Joseph Banks' papers, dated 17th November, 1789, reference 

 is also made to a bottle of Eucalyptus oil which had been forwarded to him by 

 Governor Phillip in the ship " Golden Grove," together with other exhibits, 

 but there appears to be no evidence that Considen was interested in this. 

 (See footnote, Records N.S.W., Vol. 1, part 11, p. 283.) 



