352 
Alkaloids  of  Piturie. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
t      July,  1881. 
titative  experiments  with  iieriodorin  were  not  undertaken,  owing  to 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  solution  suitable  for  hypodermic  injection. 
Tetanic  symptoms  were  not  noticed. — Phar,  Jour,  and  Trans.,  April 
23,  pp.  873-875. 
THE  ALKALOID  FEOM  PITURIE. 
By  Professor  Liversidge,  Assoc.  B.  S.  Mines,  F.I.C. 
Abstract  of  a  paper  read  before  the  Eoyal  Society  of  N.  8.  W.,  Nov.  3,  1880. 
The  supply  of  piturie  upon  which  this  investigation  was  conducted 
was  obtained  with  considerable  difficulty.  The  blacks  prize  it  very 
highly,  so  that  it  can  only  be  obtained  from  them  in  very  small  quan- 
tities at  a  time  ;  hence  it  involves  the  expenditure  of  much  time  and 
trouble  to  collect  together  a  few  pounds  weight  of  the  substance.  It 
was  obtained  from  the  Diamantina  blacks  who  trade  yearly  with  the 
Mulligan  or  Kykockodilla  tribe,  in  whose  country  the  piturie  grows. 
The  first  parcel  of  piturie  was  in  the  form  of  broken  twigs,  and 
fragments  of  leaves  of  a  pale  brown  color,  emitting  a  smell  somewhat 
similar  to  tobacco ;  tlie  fine  dust  causes  sneezing.  This  is  its  usual 
state,  but  a  second  parcel  was  much  less  broken  up  and  was  of  a 
darker  color,  the  difference  being  probably  due  to  the  less  careful  dry- 
ing which  it  had  undergone. 
The  author  was  informed  that  the  blacks  mix  the  piturie  with  the 
ashes  of  the  leaves  of  a  particular  plant,  and  usually  roll  the  mixture 
up  with  a  green  leaf  into  the  form  of  a  quid  before  chewing;  the 
addition  of  the  wood  ashes  is  doubtless  made  for  the  same  reason  that 
lime  is  mixed  with  betel  by  the  Malays  and  others,  namely,  for  the 
purpose  of  slowly  liberating  the  alkaloid  during  the  process  of  masti- 
cation. The  quid  or  bolus  is,  on  ceremonial  occasions,  said  to  be 
passed  from  native  to  native,  each  one  masticating  it  for  a  time,  and 
then  passing  it  on,  it  finding  a  resting-place  behind  the  original  pro- 
prietor's ear  until  again  required. 
The  effects  of  the  piturie  seem  from  all  accounts  to  be  very  much 
the  same  as  those  set  up  by  tobacco-smoking ;  it  does  not  appear  to 
have  the  exciting  effect  upon  the  blacks  with  which  it  was  at  one  time 
credited.  As  is  the  case  with  other  luxuries,  it  is  reserved  by  the  older 
men  for  their  own  use  exclusively,  neither  women  nor  young  men 
being  allowed  to  use  it.    The  reasons  for  using  it  appear  to  be  much 
