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ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA. 



At a meeting of this society at Hobart Town, in Dec. 1860, the secretary, 

 Mr. W. Archer, read a valuable paper " On the Indigenous Plants of Tas- 

 mania which may possibly be available for the Manufacture of Perfumery," 

 pointing out a variety of plants which possessed a pleasant odour either in 

 the flowers, leaves, wood, or roots, and some grasses which yielded an 

 agreeable perfume. 



After alluding to the export of perfumery from England and France, he 

 proceeded to enumerate some of the plants referred to, expressing a hope 

 that the initiation of the subject would give rise to a general interest in it, 

 and that such information might be imparted to the Society as might prove 

 not only interesting but valuable. He arranged the plants enumerated 

 under five heads ; namely, the flower series, the leaf series, the wood 

 series, the root series, and the grass series. 



Under the flower series he mentioned the sassafras, Hooker's whitebeard, 

 the crowberry-leaved Monotaca, three species of an Orchid called Praso- 

 phyllum, and a variety of the spider orchis, as possessing an odour belonging 

 to the same class as the jasmine ; the native lily and the fragrant hounds- 

 tongue, of the tuberose class ; also the almond-scented Arthropodium, the 

 musky Caladenia, and the various species of Acacia. He said that Mr. 

 Rirnmel spoke of the flowers of the silver wattle (Acacia dealbata) as ex- 

 haling a similar odour to that of the French Cassie (Acacia Farnesiand), 

 from whieh an essential oil is extracted, worth £64 per lb., the dried 

 flowers selling at 6s. per lb. The Secretary thought that the flowers of the 

 common honeysuckle tree (Banksia Australis) might be employed in per- 

 fumery also. Their abundance throughout the greater part of the island 

 afforded ample opportunity of testing their qualities in a variety of ways. 

 Under the leaf series he spoke of Gunn's Boronia, and the lemon-scented 

 Boronia, as possessing " a delicious 6mell of lemons," to use Mr. Gunn's 

 words. The leaves of many myrtaceous plants abounded with essential oil, 

 more or less aromatic. He mentioned the musk tree also, and spoke of 

 some of the genera of the mint tribe as possessing an essential oil of 

 agreeable quality. Under the wood series, he alluded to the native box, 

 and the box-leaved Alyxia, the latter of which has the same odour as the 

 Tonka bean, and the bark of the sassafras, which yields an essential oil 

 similar to that of the laurel. Under the root series he spoke of the shep- 

 herd's wreath (Comesperma volubllis), the roots of which, when freshly 

 taken up, diffuse an agreeable though fleeting smell, of a very peculiar 

 character. Under the grass series he mentioned the fragrant holy-grass 

 which is found in alpine or sub-alpine situations. Of the substances 

 named he thought that the following might be obtained in sufficient 

 quantities to constitute them articles of commerce ; viz., the flowers 

 of the sassafras, different species of acacia, the honeysuckle tree, the 

 native lily, and the fragrant houndstongue : the leaves of rutaceous 



