SPAIN. 175 1-. 53 



lengths; and the freih ones, which were al- 

 ready a yard in length, began to {hew their 

 long anthera. The corolla were for the moft 

 part eaten away, but Ha&Jtamina and ■piflillum 

 remained unhurt. 



The American aloe is ufeful in many re- 

 fpects ; for, beildes the uie that is made of it 

 in quick hedges, the leaves are foaked and ma- 

 naged like hemp, and may be fpun for purfes 

 and other things. With the points of the 

 leaves, which are as ftiarp and as itifF as an 

 awl, they bore peoples ears, and clear tobacco 

 pipes ; but they muft not be ufed for tooth- 

 picks, for the wounds their prickles caufe are 

 not eafily healed. It is {aid, that if its leaves, 

 when roafted by the fire, be laid upon wounds, 

 the pain will ceafe. The Americans ufe the 

 juice of the root to cure the venereal difeafe. 

 Some further account is to be met with, in the 

 book called " The Memoirs of Sophia Eliza- 

 " beth Brenner," printed at Stockholm, in 

 folio. In it flie fpeaks of the qualities of this 

 plant: Upon the firfl American aloe's flowering 

 in Sweden, it began to bloiTom in September 

 1708, and continued till the next winter in 

 Noors Sates gard. t( The Jgavc, fays me, is 

 ** a plant which fupplies all the wants of the 

 E 3 " Indian, 



