468 LILIAGEM 



way indicate a foreign origin. By the names Ghrita-kumari, 

 Kum^ri, Matti, Kanyaka, Taruni, Savari, the plant is compared 

 to a beautiful girl or to the virgin Durga. Many synonyms 

 'are descriptive, such as Dirgha-pattrika " long-leaved," Sthale- 

 ruha" growing in dry ground," Mridu ''soft," Bahu-pattra 

 '' having numerous leaves," Kantaka-pattra " having prickly 

 leaves," Vipula-srava ''juicy," Mandala ''scimitar-like," Ati- 

 picchila " very slimy," &c. The juice is considered to be cathar- 

 tic, cold, and useful for removing disease of the spleen, swellings, 

 phlegm, carbuncles, and blood and skin diseases. The Hindus 

 appear not to have been acquainted with ih.Q drug until it was 

 introduced into India by the Arabs ; when this took place it is 

 very difficult to decide, but it must have been at a very remote 

 period if we are to believe Dioscorides, who says " the Aloe 

 grows plentifully in India, whence also the juice is brought to 

 us, also in Arabia and Asia (minor), and in certain maritime 

 districts and islands, as Andros," On the other hand, Sanskrit 

 writers do not mention the drug ; possibly the orthodox Hindu 

 physicians of those days may have regarded it as an impure com- 

 pound prepared by foreigners. Ehva or Aihca, the Hindi name 

 for aloes, appears to be cognate to the Greek aXoT?, Aloes appears 

 to have been first manufactured by Arabs or Abyssinians, 

 through whom the Greeks obtained a knowledge of it. Hippo- 

 crates and Theophrastus do not mention it, but Dioscorides and 

 Pliny were evidently well acquainted with the drug and its 

 uses, and also with the plant, which it appears had beeil intro- 

 duced into the Cyclades. Abu Hanifeh in the 9th century 

 describes aloes (Sabir) and the plant from which it is obtained 

 as having a yellow flower and very thick leaves which are crushed 

 and thrown into the presses, and trodden with the feet until 

 their juice flows, when it is left until it thickens, and is then 

 put into leathern bags and exposed to the sun until it dries. 

 This method of preparation fully accounts for the inferiority 

 of Arabian aloes. All the Arabian and Persian writers agree in 

 stating that the best aloes is prepared in Socotra, and many relate 

 that Alexander, on the recommendation of Ai-istotle, took 

 possession of the island on that account and settled a colonv of 



