116 REV. W. WOOLLS, PH.D., F.L.S., ON THE 



a febrifuge by persons in the interior, and tlie so called 

 "Sassafras Tree,'' AtJicrospcrma Diosc/iatuin (Labill.), and 

 Donjplioj'a Sassafras (Endl.) are eniplo_ycd medicinally as a 

 tonic. The bark of Cedrela australis (Mneller) has been 

 regarded as a substitute for Cinchona, aiid Chionanthiis picro^ 

 pkloia (Mueller) is used in fevers. Duboisiiie sulphas, said to be 

 procured from the leaves of D. v.yoporoides (Brown), has been 

 introduced into the Pharmacopaiia as a remedy for ophthalmia. 

 The intoxicating properties of this species were known to the- 

 blacks, but Dr. Bancroft, an eminent physician of Brisbane, 

 was the first to set forth in an elaborate paper, read before the 

 Philosophical Society in 1872, the remarkable properties of 

 D. Ilopxooodii (]\Iueller), or '• Pituri " of the blacks, which is 

 much more powerful in its effects on the human system. 

 KrytlivaHi australis (Brown), and Sehoea ovata (Brown), have 

 some of the properties of gentian, and Mentha satureoides 

 (Brown) is considered as tonic. Eupliorhia jrilulifera (Linn.) 

 has been found useful in certain stages of asthma, and 

 Myriogyne mimita (Less) as a popular remedy for ophthalmia. 

 Petalostigma guadriloculare (Mueller) has a bitter principle 

 resembling that of quinine, and Melaleuca genistifolia (Sm.) 

 yields an oil similar to cajeput. In the early days of the 

 colony the leaves of Leptospermuin were used as an anti- 

 scorbutic, and those of Smilax glycyphylla (Sm,), the Sar- 

 saparilla of the colonists, as " sweet tea." It is to be 

 regretted that much of the knowledge possessed by the 

 blacks respecting the medicinal and other properties <>f 

 indigenous plants has perished with them in the colony of 

 New South Wales, but Mr. E. Palmer, M.P. of Queensland, has 

 collected some interesting information on tliis subject from 

 the blacks of Northern Queensland (see his Paper read 

 before the Royal Society of Ncav South Wales, August, 1883). 

 Baron von .Mueller, amidst his multifarious engagements, has 

 devoted some attention to the same subject (sec Documents 

 relating to the Intercolonial Exhibition, 18(57), and Dr. 

 Bancroft has done much in reference to Duboisia ITopicoodii 

 (Mueller), and Xanthoxylnm veneficum (Bailey). 



TJie singularity and beauty of Australian plants soon 

 attracted the notice of the early voyagers and settlers, and 

 the seeds of many species found their way to European 

 conservatories. Dampier's specimens were forgotten for a 

 ■while, but Bauer's drawings (made under the auspices of Sir 

 Joseph Banks) and those in the appendix to White's Voyage 

 to New Suuth ]fa/e5, encouraged a taste for Australian species, 



