BY J. H. MAIDEN. 387 



Called " Sneezeweed " in soiithern New South Wales. 



The following letter from the Rev. Dr. Woolls (then of Rich- 

 mond, N.S.W.), to the Editor of the " Sydney Morning Herald," 

 appearedin that journal on ChristmasDay, 1886. I give it in full, as 

 if the plant oiily partially realizes the expectations formed of it, 

 it will be a valuable addition to our indigenous vegetable Materia 

 Medica. 



" Some weeks since the Rev. S. Gr. Fielding, of Wellington, 

 called my attention to a weed (known to botanists as Myriogyne 

 minuta of the Composite Order), which he said had been used 

 with success in cases of blight. Being anxious to test the efficacy 

 of the remedy, and to ascertain whether any bad effects would 

 arise from its application, I placed some of it in the hands of Dr. 

 Jockel of this town, who has furnished me with the following 

 remarks : — " I have much pleasure in testifying to the efficacy, in 

 cases of ophthalmia, of the plant which you so kindly sent me. A 

 case came under my notice a few days ago, of a drover who was 

 suffering from a severe foi-m of purulent ophthalmia, contracted up 

 the country. I made an infusion of the plant according to the 

 directions, and the first local application seemed to have almost a 

 magical effect. The man expressed himself as relieved at once of 

 the intense smarting which he had previously suffered. He got on 

 so well that in two days he was able to start back up country 

 again, and could hardly express his gratitude for the very great 

 relief afforded. Louis C. Jockel." 



" I find from a communication of Baron Mueller, that for some 

 time past he has had an idea that Myriogyne might be used for 

 medicinal purposes, and that he had actually submitted it to Dr. 

 Springthorpe, an eminent physician in Melbourne, for purposes of 

 experiment. The Baron however was not aware of its efficacy in 

 simple ophthalmic infiammation, and he regarded the discovery 

 as interesting. I mention this as a matter of justice to Dr. 

 Jockel, who, I believe, is the first medical man in Australia wlio 

 has proved the value of Myriogyne in a case of ophthalmia. This 

 weed, growing as it does on the banks of rivers and creeks, and in 



