l remedies.

Snakebite they cure by sucking the wound and cauterising it with a
firestick. They say they suck out the young snakes which have been
injected into the bitten person.

For headaches or pains which do not yield to the vegetable medicine,
the wirreenuns tie a piece of opossum's hair string round the sore
place, take one end in their mouths, and pull it round and round until
it draws blood along the cord. For rheumatic pains in the head or in
the small of the back and loins they often bind the places affected
with coils of opossum hair cord, as people do sometimes with red
knitting-silk.

The blacks have many herbal medicines, infusions of various barks,
which they drink or wash themselves with, as the case may be.

Various leaves they grind on their dayoorl-stones, rubbing themselves
with the pulp. Steam baths they make of pennyroyal, eucalyptus, pine,
and others.

The bleeding of wounds they stanch with the down of birds.

For irritations of the skin they heat dwarf saltbush twigs and put the
hot ends on the irritable parts.

After setting a broken limb they put grass and bark round it, then bind
it up.

For swollen eyes they warm the leaves of certain trees and hold them to
the affected parts, or make an infusion of Budtha leaves and bathe the
eyes in it.

For rheumatic pains a fire is made, Budtha twigs laid on it, a little
water thrown on them; the ashes raked out, a little more water thrown
on, then the patient lies on top, his opossum rug spread over him, and
thus his body is steamed. To induce perspiration, earth or sand is also
often heated and placed in a hollowed-out space; on it the patient
lies, and is covered with more heated earth.

Pennyroyal infused they consider a great blood purifier they also use a
heap as a pillow if suffering from insomnia. It is hard to believe a
black ever does suffer from insomnia, yet the cure argues the fact.

Beefwood gum is supposed to strengthen children. It is also used for
reducing swollen joints. A hole is made in the ground, some coals put
in, on them some beefwood leaves, on top of them the gum; over the hole
is put enough bark to cover it with a piece cut out of it the size of
the swollen joint to be steamed, which joint is held over this hole.

Various fats are also used as cures. Iguana fat for pains in the head
and stiffness anywhere. Porcupine and opossum fats for preserving their
hair, fish fat to gloss their skins, emu fat in cold weathe