104 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



medical men like to deviate from the lemedies indicated in the 

 " Pharmacopoeia," and to extemporise such as have not received 

 approval from the faculty. Three medical men, however, with 

 whom I had the happiness to be acquainted — Dr. Campbell, 

 formerly of the Asylum at Gladesville ; Dr. Fringle, an eminent 

 physician who practised in Parramatta ; and Dr. Stacey, at one 

 time surgeon to the Agricultural Company at Port Stephens — 

 were accustomed sometimes to deviate from the beaten track, 

 and to suggest from native plants simple remedies for diseases. I 

 recollect that Dr. Campbell sent me, many years ago, specimens 

 oi E7-ythrcea aiistralis (R. Br.) for identification, and he told me 

 that he had learned from some country people that a decoction 

 of it was highly useful in certain stages of dysentery. It was his 

 practice to collect it in the summer, and to keep little bundles 

 ready for use. Our eucalypts, it is well known, have many 

 virtues, and no doubt the species generally possess, in a greater 

 or less degree, the properties attributed to E. globiilus {\ .■d}S\Vi). 

 The kino procured from E. siderophloia (Bendi.) and other allied 

 iron barks has long been known to practitioners, and the volatile 

 oil of E. piperita (Sm ) had a reputation in the early days of the 

 colony. The therapeutic properties of some eucalypts, and 

 especially of ^. rostrata (Schl.), were utilised by the blacks, in all 

 probability, long before the white man appeared amongst them, 

 and the leaves were applied with success to wounds and ulcers. 

 Smilax australis (H. Br.), the native sarsaparilla, has been used 

 by many as an alterative, and tonic, and the late learned Dr. 

 Greenup, of the Asylum, Parramatta, recommended a beverage 

 made from it. Decoctions of Mentha australis (R. Hr.), M. 

 satureoides (Ps. Br.), Gratiola periiviaiia (Linn.), Verbena officinalis 

 (Linn), and the bark of Doryphora sassafras (Kndl.) have all 

 been used as tonics, and I have been assured that, in extreme 

 cases of dysentery, when all ordinary remedies have failed, a 

 decoction of wattle bark (Acacia dccurrens and. some allied 

 species) has proved successful. Several species of the native 

 Rubus (particularly R. parviflorns (Linn i, seem to differ from 

 their European congeners in possessing astringent properties, and 

 they have been used by country people in cases of diarrhoea. 

 Alstonia constricta (F. v. M.), the bitter bark of the interior, is 

 considered by the shepherds and others as a specific for low 

 fever, and it is frequently employed where quinine cannot be 

 procured. EupJiorbia Drwnmondii (Boiss.i. which is nearly allied 

 to E. chamcesyce (Willd.), has the reputation of being poisonous 

 to sheep, but Mr. Stanley, the Government veterinary surgeon, 

 seems to doubt whether it is injurious. Perhaps the different 

 stages of growth and all the surrounding circumstances have not 

 been fully considered, as sheep-farmers regard it with suspicion ; 

 and it is known that, although sheep eat the Luropean E. helioscopia 



