392 SOME REPUTED MEDICINAL PLANTS OP NEW SOUTH WALES, 



service of medicine in New South "Wales. At p. 230, " Journal 

 of a Voyage to New South Wales,'^ by John White, Esquire* 

 Surgeon-General to the Settlement, London, 1790 (the infor- 

 mation must have been furnished almost immediately after the 

 foundation of the colony), occurs the passage, . . . "good 

 for the scurvy. The plant promises much in the last respect 

 from its bitter as a tonic, as well as the quantity of saccharine 

 matter it contains." The decoction is made from the leaves, 

 and is similar in properties, but more pleasant in taste, than that 

 obtained from the roots of S. officinalis or Jamaica Sarsaparilla. 

 See a paper by Prof. Rennie of Adelaide, on Glycyphyllin, the 

 sweet principle of this plant in Journ. Gliem. Soc. Dec, 1886.* 



The herb is a common article of trade amongst Sydney herb- 

 alists. 



Found also in Queensland. 



67. SOPHORA TOMENTOSA, Linn., N.O. Leguminosae, B.Fl. ii., 274. 

 '* Sea-coast Laburnum." 



Mr. F. M. Bailey states that the roots and seeds have been con- 

 sidered as specifics in bilious sickness. 



This plant extends from New South Wales to Northern 

 Australia, but it is not endemic in Australia. 



68. Tabern^xMontana orientalis, E.Br., N.O. Apocynese. 



B.FL, iv., 31L 

 " Bitter bark." 



This small tree has an intensely bitter bark, and a decoction of 

 it is sometimes sold as " bitters." 



It extends from New South Wales to Northern Australia. 



69. Tephrosia purpurea, Pers. N.O. Leguminosae, B.Fl., ii., 



209. 

 This plant is used in many tropical countries for the purpose of 

 stupefying fish for the sake of capturing them. 



* See also an investigation on the same substance by Mueller and Rummel 

 in Wittstein's " Organic Constituents of Plants." 



