an aboriginal word belonging to theMallee District of Victoria (see Mallee). Sometimesspelt leurp, or laap. The aboriginal word means`sweet.' It is a kind of manna secreted by an insect, Psyllaeucalypti, and found on the leaves of the Mallee, Eucalyptusdumosa. Attention was first drawn to it by Mr. ThomasDobson (see quotations). A chemical substance called Lerpamyllum is derived from it; see Watts' `Dictionaryof Chemistry,' Second Supplement, 1875, s.v.
1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 73:
«The natives of the Wimmera prepare a luscious drink from thelaap, a sweet exudation from the leaf of the mallee( Eucalyptus dumosa).»
1850. T. Dobson, `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Societyof Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 235:
«The white saccharine substance called `lerp,' by theAborigines in the north-western parts of Australia Felix, andwhich has attracted the attention of chemists, under theimpression that it is a new species of manna, originates withan insect of the tribe of Psyllidae, and order Hemiptera.»
1850. Ibid. p. 292::
«Insects which, in the larva state, have the faculty ofelaborating from the juices of the gum-leaves on which theylive a glutinous and saccharine fluid, whereof they constructfor themselves little conical domiciles.»
1878. R. Brough Smyth, `The Aborigines of Victoria,' vol. i.p. 211:
«Another variety of manna is the secretion of the pupa of aninsect of the Psylla family and obtains the name of lerp among the aborigines. At certain seasons of theyear it is very abundant on the leaves of E. dumosa,or mallee scrub . . .»