WATTLES AND WATTLE-BARKS. 39 



It grows rapidly in the Sydney and Gosford districts. A specimen of 

 bark, very thin, taken from a three-year-old sapling grown at the North 

 Shore, Sydney, stripped in June, and analysed the following February, gave 

 the very promising result of 28 per cent, of tannic acid, and 46'15 per cent, 

 of extract. It is quite worthy of more extended trial in New South Wales. 



14. Acacia pycnantha, Bentli., B.P1. ii 5 365. 



The " BROAD-LEAVED WATTLE " of South Australia ; called also " Golden, Black, 

 or Green Wattle. " It was known under the name of "Witch" by the aboriginals 

 of Lake Hiudmarsh Station, Victoria. 



One of the richest tanning barks in the world ; a richer may exist, but I 

 do not know of it. A sample of this bark was received by me in 1883 from 

 Messrs. F. Pflaum & Co., of Blumberg, South Australia, with the note 

 " contains 33'5 per cent, of tannin, according to Mr. Thomas, of Adelaide." 

 I analysed the sample in April, 1S90, and obtained the following extra- 

 ordinary result by Lowenthal's improved process the process I always 

 adopt, viz. : 



Tannic acid ... 46'47 per cent. 



Extract - 74' 7 



This has been stored seven years in the Museum, and has doubtless in- 

 creased in percentage of tannic acid during that period. Nevertheless it is- 

 the grandest specimen of wattle bark I have ever examined. It is smooth,, 

 a model of compactness, contains a minimum of fibre, and therefore powders 

 splendidly, is of good colour, and an excellent bark in every way. South 

 Australia has practically the monopoly of this bark, and it is a grand heri- 

 tage, the envy of the .eastern colonies. 



A second sample forwarded to me April, 1890, and analysed the same 

 month, is from the vicinity of Mount Torrens, 20 miles east of Adelaide, and 

 was obtained from Mr. J. E. Brown, then Conservator of South Australian 

 Forests, through the courtesy of Mr. Albert Molineax, Secretary of the 

 Agricultural Bureau of that Colony. It yielded 39' 1 per cent, of tannic 

 acid, with 73 '5 per cent, of extract. It is of course an admirable bark, but 

 it is thinner than the preceding sample, and would at once strike an expert 

 as second to it. But even this contains nearly 3 per cent, of tannic acid 

 more than any other sample of wattle bark of other species I have examined. 

 It is, however, only fair to say that I have been unable to procure samples 

 of the best brands of Tasmanian decurrens bark. 



In forwarding the sample, Mr. Molineux says, "The bark was taken 

 from a height of about 2 feet above ground. It was from a large tree, of 

 which there have been, and still are, great numbers in the locality. Mount 

 Torrens district is the best in the Colony for rich good bark. 



