148 A CONTRIBUTION TO, ETC. 



said that the principal ingredient in the preparation was the 

 greater plantain. 



(9.) PrimulacecB : The indigenous species of this family are 

 very limited, and two only (viz., Samolus littoralis and S. vale- 

 randi) are common in extra-tropical Australia. I mention these, 

 because the genus was originally considered European, and one 

 of our species is identical with that which occurs in Britain. An- 

 agallis arvensis and A. ceerulea, sometimes called " Pimpernel, and 

 the poor man's weather glass," may often be noticed in cultivated 

 ground, especially in wheat fields. They seem to be only varie- 

 ties of one species, differing principally in colour, the one being 

 scarlet, and the other blue. These 'pretty little plants were for- 

 merly used in mania and hydrophobia, and although perhaps their 

 virtues have been overrated, yet we are assured on good authority 

 that three drachms of the extract prepared from pimpernel are suf- 

 ficient to destroy a dog. The scarlet pimpernel is one of the flow- 

 ers composing Linnasus's " Floral Clock," audit is called "The 

 poor man's weather-glass," because it closes in rainy and cloudy 

 weather. 



(10 ) Solanacece : Amongst the species of this family which 

 have become acclimatised, perhaps the Cape gooseberry, or -P//y- 

 salis pubescens (the same as P. edulis and P. Peruviana) was the 

 first, for although it is described by Brown, that eminent botan- 

 ist remarks that it was introduced from Brazil or the Cape of 

 Grood Hope. This is certainly a very useful plant, for the fruit 

 is a good substitute for gooseberries, and makes excellent jam. 

 Another plant sometimes mistaken for it often occurs in gardens ; 

 this is Nicandra pliysaloides, which is probably indigenous only in 

 Peru. The corolla is large, bluish, and rayed, with a white bot- 

 tom, which is marked with five dark blue spots. I have men- 

 tioned this because it is probable that the fruit is of a poisonous 

 character. Solanum nigrum, and S. verbascifolium are regarded by 

 Brown as indigenous : the former has small black berries, which 

 are frequently eaten by children in this colony, and do not appear 

 to occasion any unpleasant consequences, although the same 

 plant in England is looked upon as suspicious. It seems that the 

 properties of the fruit become modified by the climate, for, accord- 

 ing to the Pharmacopoeia, the berries produce mania, somnam- 

 bulism, and even death ! Datura stramonium, or thorn apple, is 



