Identifier: amongcannibalsac1889lumh (
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Among cannibals; an account of four years' travels in Australia and of camp life with the aborigines of Queensland;Year:
1889 (
1880s)Authors:
Lumholtz, Carl, 1851-1922 Anderson, Rasmus Björn, 1846-1936, trSubjects:
Ethnology Natural historyPublisher:
New York, C. Scribner's sonsContributing Library:
Boston Public LibraryDigitizing Sponsor:
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view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.Text Appearing Before Image:mnow known in zoology by the name of Pseudochirus arcJieri ;it has a peculiar greenish-yellow colour with a few indistinctstripes of black or white, and thus looks very much like amoss-grown tree-trunk. Though it is a night animal, it alsocomes out about three or four oclock in the afternoon, and isthe only one of the family which appears in the daytime. One of the greatest annoyances in this almost inaccessibleregion is the poisonous nettle, the stinging-tree (Laporteamoroides). It is so poisonous that if its beautiful heart-shaped leaves are only put in motion they cause you to sneeze.The fruit resembles raspberries in appearance, the leaves arecovered with nettles on both sides, and a sting from themgives great pain. It will make a dog howl with all hismight ; but it has an especially violent effect on horses.They roll themselves as if mad from pain, and if they donot at once receive attention they will in this way kill them-selves, as frequently happens in Northern Queensland. TheText Appearing After Image:HaraidJensen iith Hotiensber^ & Trap? Etab! PSEUDOCHIRUS ARCHERI.n. SP. XI CAMPING IN A CAVE 153 natives greatly dread being stung by this nettle, andalways avoid it If you are stung in the hand you soonfeel a pricking pain up the whole arm, and finally in thelymphatic glands of the armpit. You sleep restlessly thefirst night. The pain gradually leaves the arm, but for twoto three weeks you have a sense of having burned your handif the latter comes in contact with water, for then the pain atonce returns where you were stung by the nettle. Still, I found the fear of this nettle to be exaggerated.If you at once put on some of the juice of the plant calledColocasia inacrorhiza^ which resembles an arum, and which isalways found growing near the nettle, the pain is soothedand the effect of the poison neutralised. This sharp whitejuice, which is itself poisonous, produces a violent smartingpain where the skin is thin, as for instance on the lips. It is a remarkable fact that the antidotNote About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.