52 
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS — SECTION B. 
Some of our Andropogons , particularly in Queensland, the* 
Northern Territory, and Western Australia, contain a sweet-scented 
oil allied to the Lemon-grass oil of India. Chrysopogon parviflorus , 
Benth., might be examined for a similar oil. A sweet-scented oil 
has been obtained from Pittosporum undulatum , Vent., but only a few' 
general experiments have been performed with it. A thorough 
chemical examination is a desideratum. 
The list of Wattles ( Acacia ) which possess distinctly odorous 
flowors is a very long one. Jt includes most of the varieties of 
A. decurrens , Willd. (other than norm a Us), pycnantha , Benth., conferta T 
A. Cunn suaveolens, Willd., pubescens,Ji. Br., imp1ex(J,J$enth.,dealbata, 
Link. Perhaps these plants more directly concern the pharmaceutical 
chemist, but we are ignorant of the substance to which they owe their 
perfume. Neither do we know the nature of the substance to wdiich 
the various myall woods and their congeners owe their sw r eet odour. 
They aie A. pendula , A. Cunn., A. hariiopliylla , F. v. M., A. glaucescens , 
Willd., A. dor a foxy I on, A. Cunn , A. acuminata, Benth., and perhaps 
others. 
Other plants with sw r eet perfumes are Cynoglossum suaveolens , 
B. Br., various Stackhousias , Sympltyonema paludostm, B. Br. (whose 
odour reminds one of patchouli), Boronia megastigma , Nees., Murraya 
exotica , Linn. Zieria obcordata and aspadathoides might be distilled,, 
and the oils examined. 
A Dumber of our (Asters), perhaps more than usually 
supposed, possess a delicate muskv odour. Of these O. argophylla , 
F. v.M., is perhaps the best known. It appears, after careful experi- 
ments, that the perfume cannot be obtained by distillation as an 
essential oil. I have not heard, however, whether any attempt has 
been made to collect the perfume by “ enfleurage.” Other sw r eet- 
scented composite plants are Pterigeron liatroides , Benth.. and Humect 
elegans, Sm. The perfume of the latter is very powerful, and is, at 
least in part, owing to the presence of coumarin. 
The following plants, amongst others, contain coumarin, but we 
are ignorant as to the percentages : — Alyxia buxifolia , B. Br., Cerato - 
pet alum apetalum , Don., Humect elegans, Hierochloa . A fern, Poly- 
podium scandens, Forst., develops a powerful odour of coumarin in 
drying. 
As regards perfumes of the bad sort, we know r nothing of the 
substance to which Hydrocotyle laxifiora , DC., and various Opercii - 
larias ovre their abominable smell. The flow’ers of Tecoma australis r 
B. Br., also sometimes have a putrid smell, and hence attract blowflies. 
Other plants can be called to mind with nasty odours, but 1 have 
diffidence in asking experimenters to take them up, as I might be asked 
to set an example. 
But by tar the most important commercial indigenous perfume 
is the Sandalwood of Western Australia, the product of Fusanus 
spicatus, B. Br. {Sant alum cygnorum, Miq.) 
A second Sandalwood which has received attention is that of 
Fusanus ( Santa lu?n ) acuminata s, B. Br. {Sant alum Prtissianum, Miq.), 
the well-known Quandong. 1 am aware that the Sandalwood oil 
of commerce (East Indian) finds a place in the B.P. as a drug, but 
the chief use of Sandalwood is as a perfume, which is a convenient 
classification in the present instance. 
