The Chemistry and the Chemical Exploitation of Western 
Australian Plants. 
89 
might be made of the pungent, acrid volatile oil, described by W att and 
Breyer-Brandwijk (32), which is obtained from Anagatlis arvensis L. 
(Primulaceae). 
III.— RESINS AND GUMS. 
The only resins which have received any detailed attention from a 
chemical point of view are those of the different species of Xanthorrhoea. 
Herbert (33) has summarised the work done on X. Preis'm Endl. up to 
1920, while Rennie (34) reviewed the results from several species up to 
Finlayson (35) has described the results of an investigation of the 
from X. reflexa D. A. Herbert, by the method of steam distillation 
alkaline solution, while Holloway (36) has compared the melting and 
decomposition points of the resin from X. Preissii with those of the resins 
of Eastern States species and has studied the effects of extraction of the 
different resins with a variety of solvents. 
1926. 
resin 
from 
Strevens (37) has contributed a series of articles on the technology 
of the Xanthorrhoeae and Steel (38) has described the destructive distilla- 
tion of the resin on a commercial scale. 
A preliminary investigation of the resinous exudate of the turpentine 
bush of the Kimberley, Grevillea pyramidalis A. Cunn. ex R. Br. var. leuca - 
dendron (R.Br.) C. A. Gardn., has been made by Hill (39, sub. G. leuca- 
dendron ). This exudate is apparently similar to that from G. viscidula 
C. A. Gardn. which is used by the natives, after mixing with 
ashes, for rubbing into tribal scars for the production of prominent cica- 
trices. The occasional abundant production of a hard reddish brown resin 
by G. slViata R. Br. is recorded by Maiden (22), who also mentions the 
formation in quantity of a clear yellowish gum-resin on the branchlets of 
Bertya Cunningliamii Planch. 
The production of resins by species of the family Convolvulaeeae, par- 
ticularly those of the genera Ipomoea, Operculina and Convolvulus , is well 
known. Ipomoea hederacea N. J. Jacq. and Operculina I 1 jit pet hum (L.) 
S. Manso have been used as purgatives on account of their resin content 
and doubtless other members will be found to contain appreciable amounts 
of resin. Hurst (21) records that Ipomoea polymorpha R. et S. (sub. I. 
heterophylla R. Br.) is suspected of being poisonous in New South Wales, 
a reputation which might well depend on the presence of resin in the species. 
The resins produced by our Gymnospermae have received little, if any 
attention. 
No chemical work appears to have been done on any of the gums. 
All species of Acacia produce gum probably of the arabic type, notably 
A. microbotrya Benth. and A. Farnesiana Willd., which is the source of 
Karachi gum from Sind. Maiden (22) mentions the copious production of 
gum by Albizzia procera (Willd.) Benth. and also refers to a high grade 
product obtainable from Pittosporum philliyreoides DC. The Christmas 
tree, Nuytsia floribunda (Labill.) R. Br., sometimes produces a considerable 
amount of gum in very large tears. A study of these gums, of the seasonal 
variation in their formation and of the methods used to obtain nearly 
colourless products, might well lead to the establishment of a profitable minor 
industry. 
The gum-like or gelatinous substances obtainable from seaweeds are 
becoming increasingly important in many industries. The highly gelatinous 
nature of Eucheuma speciosum J. A g., the “jelly plant” of Western Aus- 
