8 
MEMOlliS OF TUE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 
not get it, and the ‘ doctor ’ said, ^ Can’t find liiin any more.’ It had done its 
work and I suppose could not be used a second time.” 
In the Idamere district an eimi phalanx, bearing the native name of 
'‘Koolburrie” (Q. M. Sp. No. QE 14/555), is used by the women as a cheek 
and by the men as a hair ornament. The bone, which is cemented at one end 
with native gum, savours, however, much more of a ('harm, and I am personally 
convinced from comparative study of the latter characteristic. Perhaps later 
further information on this point will be forthcoming. A curious gin’s charm 
from Boulia, also in the Queensland Museum collections (Q. 1\I. Sp. No. QE 
14/557), consists of a pair of kangaroo teeth mounted in gum (not unlike a 
groover) and fastened to a message stick, cut only on one side {see Figure 5, 
Plate Y), and worn round the neck. These details are given on the authority 
of Mr. J. A. Watson, Avho collected and donated it. Another cdiarm, shown in 
Figure 4, Plate V, l)earing the native name of Tikovana,” or IMantaka,” 
comes from the locality of the Herbert Elver (Q. i\r. Sp. No. QE 14/559.) It is 
reputed to have been used in battle, and consists of a rude oval of very soft wood, 
the upper portion of which is decorated witli a painted human face (eyes sunk into 
the wood), whilst the lower portion is elaborately painted in black, red, and 
yellow, and evidently is intended to be worn round the neck. The design is 
so remarkably like those of certain fire-sticks from the localitic^s of Cardwell 
and the Johnstone Elver, that one cannot fail to be struck with the similarity; 
hence it is not outside the bounds of possibility that this charm may be the 
result of a little modern imagination. 
Magic stones of various sizes and of natural shapes are variously em- 
ployed. At Glenormistou a magic stone, in shape not unlike an emu egg, 
though smaller, is used for emu capture {see Figure 6, Plate V.) (Q. M. 
Sp. No. QE 14/390.) To obtain a plentiful harvest of emu eggs a nest-like 
hollow is formed on a hillto]) and the emu IMulkari ” laid on it; incantations 
are then made to propitiate the IMulkari ” or supernatural influence whose 
favour is sought.” Magic medicine stones occurred to my knowdedge in the 
Cairns district and were in vogue for curing headache by tapping the affected 
parts more or less energetically, accoi'ding to the severity of the symptoms; tli- 
effects of such magic would doubtless be very efficacious. (Q. M. Sp. Nos. QE 
14/391 and 392.) {See Figures 2 and 3, Plate V.) 
Doubtless the spirit of ‘‘ Mulkari of the North Queensland medicine men is the 
same as referred to here. See Eotli, Ethnological Studies, chap, xi, 2 )ara. 260; Ibid, chap 13 
para. 320. 
