QUEENSLAND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
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THE PITURI POISON. 
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A Paper read by Dr. Bancroft, before the above Society, on Thursday, 28th 
March, 1872 : — • 
A meetings of the Queensland Philosophical 
Society was held on Thursday, March 28, at 
which Dr. Bancroft read a paper on the 
“ pituri ” poison, brought by Mr. Sub-Inspector 
CHlmour from near Cooper’s Creek. Some 
interesting experiments were made, demon- 
strating the deadliness of the poison to small 
animals. The paper will appear in an early 
issue. Mr. Pettigrew showed some stone which, 
on heating, resembled porcelain. This may 
probably be of value in the manufacture of 
superior kinds of pottery. It was found by 
Mr. W. P. Clarke, near the Maroochie River. 
Dr. Bancroft said : 
On February 9th of this year, I obtained from 
Mr. Gilmour a quantity of dried leaves, and the 
particulars here narrated, of a plant used by the 
natives as a stimulating narcotic. These leaves, 
called “ pituri,” were obtained in the neighbor- 
hood of the water-hole Kulloo, eight miles be- 
yond Eyre’s Creek. 
The use of the pituri is confined to the old 
men of a tribe called Malutha, all the males of 
which tribe are circumcised. 
The pituri is carried in neatly-made oval 
pointed bags, specimens of which Mr. Gilmour 
has brought. « 
The old men, before any serious undertaking, 
chew these dried leaves, appearing to use 
about a tablespoonful. A few twigs are 
burnt, and the ashes mixed therewith. 
After a slight mastication, the bolus is placed 
behind the ear — to be again chewed from time 
to time — the whole of which is at last swallowed. 
The native, after this, is in a sufficiently 
courageous state of mind to fight, or undertake 
any serious business. 
One old man Mr. Gilmour and party fell in 
with refused to have anything to say or do until 
he had chewed the pituri ; after which he rose 
and harangued in grand style, ordering the ex- I 
plorers to leave the place. The pituri caused a 
severe headache in persons who triedit. The dust 
given off in examining the leaves causes sneezing. 
The above is the information supplied by 
Mr. Gilmour. 
Mr. Wills’ diary from Cooper’s Creek home- 
wards (page 283) has the following : — “ May 7, 
1861. In the evening various members of the 
tribe came down with lumps of nardoo and 
handfuls of fish, until we were positively unable 
to eat any more. They also gave us some stuff 
they call bedgery, or pedgery ; it has a 
highly intoxicating effect when chewed even in 
small quantities. It appears to be the dried 
stems and leaves of some shrub.” 
The pituri consists of leaves broken into 
small particles, and mixed with it are acacia 
leaves, small dried berries containing reniform 
seeds and unexpanded flower buds of the shape 
of a minute caper. 
The seeds picked out have as yet not germi- 
nated, indeed have decayed ; and from this rea- 
son, together with the brittle and broken condition 
of the leaves, causes me to suspect that they 
have been dried by artificial heat. I do not, 
however, find any scorched leaves or burnt 
matter mixed therewith. Mr. Gilmour also 
gave me a small bunch of twigs, some as thick 
as a pen-holder $ these appear as if broken from 
a tree. The leaves are narrow lanceolate, and 
when complete may be an inch long and an eighth 
of an inch broad. It is impossible to find an 
entire leaf. 
On February 22, I made an infusion of one 
drachm of the pituri in one drachm of water. 
Of the solution obtained, thirty drops were in- 
jected under the skin of a half-grown cat ; the 
animal died from suffocation in one minute, the 
heart continuing to beat for some time after- 
wards. Seven drops of the same solution in- 
jected under the skin of a puppy caused death 
