779 ORD. XLVI. Liliacee. ALOn PERFOLIATA SOCOTORINA. 
so pure and bright as scarcely to be distinguishable by the eye; 
even from the socotorine, but its offensive smell readily betrays it; 
and if this also should be dissipated by art, its wanting the 
aromatic flavour of the finer aloes will be a sufficient criterion. 
This aloe is not admitted into the Materia Medica, and is employed 
chiefly by farriers. 
* All the kinds of aloes consist of a resin united to a gummy 
matter, and dissolve in pure spirit, proof spirit, and proof spirit 
diluted with half its weight of water; the impurities only being 
left. They dissolve also by the assistance of heat in water alone; 
but as the liquor grows cold, the resinous parts subside. 
The hepatic aloes is found to contain more resin and less gum 
than the socotorine, and this than the caballine. The resins of all 
the sorts, purified by spirit of wine, have little smell: that obtained 
from the socotorine has scarce any preceptible taste ; that of the 
pate a cee Egersh —_ and the resin of the caballine, a 
ator TVOU 1e gummy extracts of all the 
sorts are a nteesbie sans the crude aloes: the extract of 
socotorine aloes has very little smell, and is in taste not un- 
pleasant: that of the hepatic has a somewhat stronger smell, but 
is rather more agreeable in taste than the extract of the soco- 
torine: the gum of the caballine retains a considerable. share of 
the peculiar rank smell of this sort of aloes, but its taste is not 
much more unpleasant than that = the extracts made from the 
_ two other sorts." 
Aloes is neither noticed by Hippocrates nor ilerniheesin; bar 
Dioscorides mentions two kinds ; and Avicenna tells us, that of the 
different kinds the. socotorine is the best. Celsus,: however, who 
frequently employed aloes, does not mention any peculiar sort. 
Aloes is a well known purgative; a property which it possesses 
not eony when taken internally, but also by external application.‘ 
» See Edinburgh New Didpensatory: 
' V. Monre’s Works, p, 306. and Mem. de la Soc. R. de Medec. & Paris, 
Vol. 2. p. 162. ~ 
