THE TECHNOLOGICAL EXHIBITS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8755, 18 March 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE TECHNOLOGICAL EXHIBITS

A portion of the exhibit from the Technological Museum of Sydney is devoted to the display o£ indigenous Australian vegetable substances which are reputed to possess medicinal properties. These specimens, which number about 30, have been collected from all parts of the Australian continent, but principally from New South Wales and Queensland. One of the most interesting specimens in the collection is* the pituri (Duboisia hopwoodii), which is found at the Herbert river in Queensland. This is the masticatory of the aboriginals of Central Australia, and in this respect corresponds to the cocoa of Peru and the burning betel nut of the East Indies. The drug is in tho - shape of leaves, more or loss powdered, mixed with finely broken twigs, foiming altogether a brown herb. So fine is the powder, and so irritating is it, that the j most careful examination of a specimen is > attended with violent sneezing. The effect I of the somewhat limited knowledge that at ! present exists respecting the plant is that it ! is extremely local in distribution. The blacks . prize it so highly that they travel enormous : distances to procure it, besides which it is a \ valuable commodity for tribal barter. The ', tops and leaves are gathered by the aborigi- : nals during the month of August, when the I plant is in blossom, and are hung up to dryf ; Sometimes they are sweated beneath a layer ■ of fine sand, dried, roughly powdered, and ; then packed in netted bags or skins for . transport. The leaves are prepared for use ; by being damped, mixed with potash ob-!

taincd from the ashes of .suitable plants, and rolled up in the shape oE .1 cigar, which is, however, not smoked but chewed, I ho saliva being swallowed, 'i'hc pituri, if consumed in small quantities, is slid to havo a powerful stimulating effect, assuaging him-' go'r, and enabling long journeys to bo rrtado not only without fatigue but with iittlo food. The aboriginals also used (he plant to excite them before (ighling. The properties of a plant which is locally known as sneczowood, and is included under the botanical designation cf Myriogyno minutil, wore made known to the public through the me liiim of the pros?, as many as 2!i years ago, bj tlio Rev. Dr Woolls, of Richmond, \Wi>i quoted the testimony of a medical mnn, Dr Jockel, lo the effect that an infusion of tho plant had been ellieaeous upon application in v case of ophthalmic inllammaLion. The Riieesicwood is a weed which grows on tho banks oE livers and creeks, and in moist places. It is common to all tho Australian colonies and Tasmania, and may be regarded, it has been said, as almost no-extensive with the disease which it is designed co relievo, it is also found in India, Madagascar, and Japan, and is used by the natives of India in their treatment of paralysis, pains in the joints, and special diseases. Another plant that j has been found to be useful in ophthalmic surgery belongs to the same family,; as the pituri, already referred to, and is obtained on the Blue Mountains. Tho leaves which are used owe their active properties to the presence in them of an alkaloid called duboisine. This has been shown by Ladenberg to be identical with hyoscamine and has an intoxicating property, as is shown by the fact that fluid poured by the aborigines into holes made by them in the trunk of tho tree is, when drunk after boing left for a night, productive of stupor. The Victorian sassafras yields a bark which is used as a diaphoretic in pulmonary affections, and is known more especially for its sedative action on the heart. The bark has also been used as % tea in Tasmania, and a decoction or infusion has boon found to havo, when taken with plenty of milk, a pleasant taste with, however, a slightly aperient effect. The bark of the New South Wales sassafras is also taken in the form of an infusion as a tonic medicine, ] t lias a pleasant, aromatic odour, and the loaves possess, in an inferior degree, the properties of tho bark, for which they are sometimes used as a substitute. A plant which is found in Queensland, and is locally called the asthma herb, is used either in decoction or burnt in the alleviation of asthma. It is said to have Ino solid claim to tho rank of a specific, bnt has in many cases been proved to be a useful palliative of the symptoms in this distressing complaint, botanically called Cymbonotus lawsonianus, tho medical properties of which are extracted by means of melted lard by tho couutry people in the southern parts of New South Wales and prepared as a salvo for wounds. Alternate layers of lard and leaves are made, and the mass is allowed to cool slowly, tho lard being afterwards run out ready for use. The balance of the collection calls for no particular mention, several of tho specimens, although doubtless possessing medicinal virtues, having not been yet put to any test.