the; journal of pharmacology. 231 



In England they prefer Barbadoes aloes ; in Germany, Cape aloes, and in 

 this country, Socotrine and Curacoa aloes. 



A correct and reliable division and classification^ the varieties of this 

 important drug is as yet only a wished for but not by any means realized 

 fact. Much of the Socotrine aloes we buy, and, apparently knowing, 

 labelled " True Socotrine Aloes," is a mixture containing various varieties, 

 and no doubt largely Curacoa aloes. As we all know, Socotrine aloes costs 

 about 25 cents a pound, while Curacoa aloes costs only about 3 cents a 

 pound ; and, as we also know, the pharmacist nearly always calls for and 

 uses the former, thinking the latter a cheap, malodorous substitute. If any 

 aloes can be called not malodorous, and if comparisons of malodor can be 

 made by skilled pharmaceutical olfactory nerves, perhaps it is safe to say 

 that Curacoa aloes is the stronger in odor, although not as unpleasant as 

 Cape aloes. Whether or not the famous saffron-like qualities of Socotrine 

 aloes justify us in investing 22 cents a pound for the saffron aloes is, how- 

 ever, another question, and I would like to ask the many skilled pharma- 

 cists seated before me if they always prefer the saffron-flavored aloes 

 because of its saffron or because it is official. If it could be shown that 

 Curacoa aloes or any other aloes is as efficient as its saffron-flavored sister, 

 would they still stand by the United States Pharmacopoeia and pay 22 

 cents tribute to the latter o„ to the saffron flavor? I certainly would not. 

 Drugs have been but little studied, and our standards for the same are 

 necessarily vague and indefinite. When, however, science has taken a drug 

 in hand and given us standards, and thereby upset our former macroscop- 

 ical and necessarily superficial criteria as to their relative value, should we 

 not accept the results of her revelations and adopt the benefits thereof? 

 We know that aloin is one of the active principles of aloes, and if not the 

 only one, as I shall show, still the main one, and a principle that we all 

 know perfectly well is uniformly efficient and gives us all the results of the 

 drug. If we can show that Curacoa aloes contains as much and frequently 

 more aloin than Socotrine aloes, are we not reasonably certain that the 

 one is as efficient and valuable as the other, for certainly the odor of the 

 aloes has no influence on the lower bowel ? 



I have made comparative assays of Socotrine, Curacoa and Cape aloes, 

 and have found that they contain approximately the following relative 

 amounts of aloin : (m. p., 103 C.) Socotrine aloes, soft in monkey skins, 

 7^ per cent, average of 3 assays, (m. p., no° C.) Curacoa aloes, hard 

 and livery and of a light chocolate color, 18.5 per cent, in 3 assays, (m. 

 p., 107 C.) Cape aloes, hard, glassy and black in color, 4^ per cent, 

 average 3 assays. Inasmuch as practically all the aloin in this country is 

 made from Curacoa aloes as it is in England from Barbadoes aloes, and we 

 have all found that it is usually efficacious and produces the desired ef- 

 fects, we cannot but conclude in the face of the above assays that no rea- 



