EUCAL YPTUS. /35 



the people have gone beyond reason ; indeed they may be 

 said to regard the healing power of the Eucalyptus with 

 the confidence of superstition. 



In Cordova the young Eucalyptus trees were stripped 

 of their leaves and it was impossible to keep them alive 

 until guards, to prevent this leaf stripping, were appointed. 



From Cordova the Eucalyptus craze spread through 

 other Spanish towns, traces of which are to be found in 

 their municipal regulations, such, for instance, as the one 

 prohibiting the picking of Eucalyptus leaves without an 

 official permit issued only on evidence of the medical need 

 of applicant. 



Travellers had long before noted the use of poultices of 

 Eucalyptus leaves of different species by the natives of 

 Australia for wounds, but without attracting attention to 

 the application of such remedy to the Aryan. 



One case is of record of a native Australian so severely 

 wounded in the abdomen that the intestines protruded and 

 had to be pushed back, who was treated by a poultice of 

 Eucalyptus leaves and recovered without even severe 

 inflammation. 



I have observed in our western plains the use of 

 tobacco on severe wounds by guides and trappers with a 

 similar result of preventing pus and promoting the prompt 

 healing of wounds. 



There is a disposition to ridicule what are called "old 

 woman remedies," that is, the application by teas, poul- 

 tices, etc., from the fresh leaves, roots, etc., of plants for 

 healing hurt humanity. The term "old woman" came to 

 be applied because in the early scarcity of physicians in 

 America the duty of care in sickness fell upon the most 

 experienced women, whose energies at that time were cen- 



