13
The gas thus obtained is stated to produce a very brilliant flame; and as much as 10,000 cubic feet have been obtained from one ton of leaves. But the expense of collecting these leaves in a country where labour is so costly appears to have proved a barrier to its employment except under exceptional circumstances.
We have now, in conclusion, to allude very briefly to the medicinal properties of the Eucalyptus globulus. As already noticed, the febrifugal properties of the bark and leaves of this plant have been testified to by many practitioners—as M. Pepin, Dr. Carlotti, Dr. Lorinser, Professor Gubler, Dr. Keller, Dr. Maclean, and more especially of late years by Dr. Gimbert, who has published two important communications upon the subject. It is said to be a valuable remedy, and more especially in intermittent fevers and bronchitis. For several elegant preparations of the leaves and bark, such as the tincture, fluid extract, syrup, extract, lozenges, and pills, I am indebted to the kindness of Messrs. Savory and Moore, who have made these preparations a special object of study.
Probably some of the exaggerated statements that have been made in reference to the efficacy of Eucalyptus bark and leaves in fevers have arisen under the mistaken idea that the bark contained an alkaloid resembling, if not identical with, quinine, the well-known alkaloid of Cinchona-barks. But the experiments of Mr. Broughton, the government chemist of Ootacamund, entirely disprove this; for upon careful examination of the bark and leaves, Mr. Broughton states that neither quinine nor the other alkaloids of Cinchona-bark, as quinidine, cinchonine, or cinchonidine, exist in the plant in any proportion. What properties the plant possesses would appear, therefore, so far as known at present, to be due essentially to the presence of eucalyptol, already noticed as the principal constituent of Eucalyptus oil.
From the testimony of numerous medical practitioners in various parts of the world where the plant has been introduced, and from its popular reputation in fevers in Australia and other countries, we can scarcely doubt that it does possess anti-periodic properties, although these are far less important than those of Cinchona-bark.
In making preparations of Eucalyptus leaves the narrow leaves should alone be used, as recent investigations by a German physician, Dr. Hermann Œffinger, have shown that these are far more efficacious than the broader leaves found on the younger and faster-growing herbaceous shoots.
Dr. Gimbert has also recently introduced a new method of dressing
