<hw>Barcoo-grass</hw>, <i>n</i>. an Australian grass, <i>Anthistiria membranacea</i>, Lindl. One of the best pasture grasses in Queensland, but growing in other colonies also.
<hw>Barcoo Rot</hw>, <i>n.</i> a disease affecting inhabitants of various parts of the interior of Australia, but chiefly bushmen. It consists of persistent ulceration of the skin, chiefly on the back of the hands, and often originating in abrasions.
It is attributed to monotony of diet and to the cloudless climate, with its alternations of extreme cold at night and burning heat by day. It is said to be maintained and aggravated by the irritation of small flies.
1870. E. B. Kennedy, `Four Years in Queensland,' p. 46:
"Land scurvy is better known in Queensland by local names, which do not sound very pleasant, such as `Barcoo rot,' `Kennedy rot,' according to the district it appears in. There is nothing dangerous about it; it is simply the festering of any cut or scratch on one's legs, arms or hands. . . They take months to heal. . . Want of vegetables is assigned as the cause."
1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 58:
"In Western Queensland people are also subject to bad sores on the hand, called Barcoo-rot."
<hw>Barcoo Vomit</hw>, <i>n</i>. a sickness occurring in inhabitants of various parts of the high land of the interior of Australia. It is characterized by painless attacks of vomiting, occurring immediately after food is taken, followed by hunger, and recurring as soon as hunger is satisfied.
The name <i>Barcoo</i> is derived from the district traversed by the river Barcoo, or Cooper, in which this complaint and the <i>Barcoo Rot</i> are common. See Dr. E. C. Stirling's `Notes from Central Australia,' in `Intercolonial Quarterly Journal of Medicine and Surgery,' vol. i. p. 218.
<hw>Bargan</hw>, <i>n</i>. a name of the Come-back <i>Boomerang</i> (q.v.). (Spelt also <i>barragan</i>.)