NAT. ORDER. LILIACEJS. 75 



reached Europe before the discovery of the southern passage into the 

 Indian Ocean. History informs us that this species of Aloes grows on 

 the sides and summits of mountain.^, from five hundred to three thou- 

 sand feet above the level of tlic plains. It is found in all parts of the 

 island, but most abundantly on the western portion, where the surface 

 is thickly covered whh it for miles, and it appears to thrive best in 

 parched and barren places. Much less of the drug is collected than 

 formerly, as the whole produce seems to be monopolized bj' the Ara- 

 bian Sultan of Risseen, who still claims sovereignty over the island. 

 The leaves are plucked at any period of the year, and are placed in 

 skins into which the juice is allowed to exude ; it is exported in skin3, 

 and the qualities ditlcr much according to the care taken in its prepa- 

 ration. Much of the Aloes sold as the Socotorine lias never seen tlie 

 island of Socotra, or even the Indian seas. It has been customary to 

 affix this title as a mark of superior value to those portions ot the 

 drug, from whatever source they may have been derived, which have 

 been prepared with unusual care, and are supposed to be of the best 

 quality. Thus both in Spain and the West Indies the juice which i.? 

 obtained without expression, and inspissated in the sun without arti- 

 ficial lieat, has been called Socotorine Aloes, and is probably little if 

 at all inferior to the genuine drug. 



Aloe saponar'm. Great Soap Aloe. This seldom rises much 

 above two feet iii height ; the leaves are very broad at their base, 

 where they closely embrace the stalk, and gradually decrease to a 

 poiut ; the edges are set with sharp spines, and the under leaves 

 spread open horizontally in every direction ; these are of a dark-green 

 color, spotted with white, somewhat resembling the color of soft 

 soap, whence its name ; the flowers grow in umbels, on the tops of 

 the stalks, and are of a beautiful red color, appearing in August and 

 September. 



Abr. hnm'dis. Dwarf Hedgehog Aloe. This is a very low plant, 

 never rising into stem ; the leaves are broad at their base, but tiper 

 to a p:)int, where they are triangular ; they are beset on their ed:;es 

 and both surfaces with soft spines very closely, from whence t'us 



