Astonishing Antipodean Antics

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Watch out Arnie!

Unknown: "Goanna Oil" dissolves muscle protein. Goannas are large native lizards.

A showman named Joe Marconi was responsible for commercialising the term "goanna oil" in a range of salves and liniments based on traditional Aboriginal remedies and sourcing his goanna fat from a goanna farm across the road from his home in Bulimba, Queensland. His colourful life extended to dying, appropriately, in a kerbside brawl in 1922.

The "Goanna" range of products still sold today no longer contains goanna fat. A liniment called 'goanna oil' is made out of eucalyptus oil, pine oil, mint and menthol as a remedy for aches and pains.

Authentic goanna oil *is* harvested for use in Chinese medicine.

References:

• A yarn about Australia's last professional goanna driver