8 
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 explorers to leave the 
place. The pituri caused a severe headache in persons who tried it. 
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 homewards (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 germinated, indeed have 
decayed ; and from this reason, 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 irom a tree. The leaves are narrow lanceolate, and when com- 
plete 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 
injected under the skm of a half-grown cat ; the animal died from 
suffocation in one minute, the heart continuing to beat for some time 
afterwards. Seven drops of the same solution injected under the skin 
of a puppy caused death by suffocatipn in a minute and a-half, the 
heart continuing to beat as before. The same quantity killed small 
rats with great rapidity. 
On March 3, I commenced experiments with the extract obtained 
by evaporating the watery infusion. The extract is of the consistency 
of treacle, and can be conveniently dropped from an ounce vial. 
By evaporating the infusion carefully, minute crystals are formed 
in great plenty. The crystals are acicular bundles, and are beautifully 
tinted by the polariscope. 
In the infusion is generated a yellow matter, which falls to the 
bottom of the vessel. This yellow substance has no poisonous proper- 
ties. The extract also undergoes this change generating carbonic 
acid by fermentation. A yellow deposit also goes to the bottom. 
