9J 
E. M. Watson. 
tralia, was commented on as early as 1887 by Maiden, and the alga lias been 
used locally in canning as a substitute for agar. Unfortunately the produc- 
tion of agar from this species does not appear possible since, on thawing 
the frozen jel, the water does not escape but is almost completely re- 
absorbed. The seaweed itself, however, could be utilised in industry in 
washed and bleached form since it requires only about fifteen minutes boiling 
to effect complete disintegration and solution as compared with the eight to 
ten hours needed by the Gelidium and Gracilaria species commonly used to 
make agar. Longer boiling of Euchenma speciosum leads to rapid loss of 
gelatinising properties. The investigation of Eastern States seaweeds is 
being carried out by the C.S.I.R. (40) and there is need of similar work on 
Western Australian species, particularly those occurring from Carnarvon 
or Gerald ton southwards. 
IV. 
TANNINS AND KINOS. 
A reasonably complete account of the tannin resources of Australia 
has been compiled through the efforts of numerous workers. The greater 
part of our information on Western Australian tanning materials was ob- 
tained as a result of a programme of work commenced in the Forest Pro- 
ducts Laboratory of the Commonwealth Institute of Science and Industry 
in Perth and completed in the laboratories of the Forest Products Division 
of the C.S.I.R. in Melbourne. The main results of these and some few other 
investigations were published by Coghill (41) and by the Forests Depart- 
ment of Western Australia (42). Additional work was done by Maiden 
(22), Smith (4.4), Mann (44) and Baker and Smith (24). The principal 
genera covered in this work are Acacia } Eucalyptus , Ca Hit r Is and * Banksia, 
but representatives of numerous other genera are also included. 
The production of tannin extracts was investigated by the C.S.I.R. 
in a pilot plant at the Engineering School of the University of Western 
Australia. Many possible raw materials were examined and, in particular, 
much work was done on karri bark which is available in quantity as a mill 
waste product. This extract, however, is not a suitable tanning material. 
The plant was taken over in 1932 by Industrial Extracts Ltd. and this com- 
pany is now producing a very satisfactory extract from the wandoo, 
Eucalyptus redunca Schau. var. data Benth. Some interesting comparisons 
of this extract with other commercial extracts have been published by Pound 
and Quinn (45). 
Little work has been done on the chemistry of these tannins. Rennie 
(34) has briefly summarised the work which has been done on the tannins 
associated with the kinos of Eastern States species of Eucalyptus and 
Phillips (46), in an account of the kino of E. calophylla , has reviewed the 
chemistry of its tannin and has critically examined the work of McGookin 
and ITeilbron (47). Blockley, Spiers and Beverley (48) have examined 
the wandoo extract which they consider to be a mixture of pvrogallol and 
catechol tannins, the former predominating. 
V. POISON PLANTS. 
Although Western Australia occupies an unenviable position in 
possessing more than her fair share of Australia’s poison plants, little atten- 
tion has been paid to the chemical nature of the toxic principles of these 
plants and such studies offer an almost unlimited field of research for the 
chemist. 
