& 
MINOR VEGETABLE PRODUCTS AND THEIR SOURCES. 18). 
erful astringent, and is sometimes employed with great success in dis- 
orders in which astringents are indicated. 
Aloes.—This bitter drug is the dried resinous juice derived from the 
leaves of several species of aloe, a genus of liliaceous plants, natives 
of temperate and sub-tropical climates. The best kind of aloes is the 
socotrine, the product of Aloe Socotrina, a native of the island of 
Socotra, in the Indian Ocean. Hepatic aloes, socalled from their liver- 
like color, are produced by A. Arabica. Barbadoes aloes are produced 
from A. vulgaris, a native of Cape Colony. It is more dusky in hue 
than the East Indian species, and more nauseous and bitter. Caballine 
or horse-aloes are the refuse of the Barbadoes, and from their rank, 
fetid smell, are useful only for veterinary medicine. Cape aloes are 
produced by A. spicata and A. commelini; are lighter in color than the 
other species, but possessed of a strong, disagreeable odor; the color is 
more like gamboge. The yellowish juice is stored up in greenish vessels 
lying beneath the skin of the leaf, and when the leaves are cut the juice 
exudes, and is gradually evaporated to a firm consistence. An inferior 
product is obtained by pressing the leaves, or by cutting them in pieces, 
boiling them, and evaporating the decoction to a proper solidity. The 
drug is used as a purgative, and in small doses as a tonic. 
Balsam of Peru.—This drug is obtained from Myrospermum Peruiferum, 
(Leguminose,) a native of Peru and other parts of South America. The 
mode of procuring the balsam is by making incisions in the tree from 
which it gradually exudes, and is absorbed by pieces of cotton rags which 
are inserted for the purpose. During rainy seasons the supply is much 
lower, and the expedient of lighting a fire is resorted to, which causes 
the gum to exude more freely, but is followed by the destruction of the 
tree. When the rags are saturated they are thrown into boiling water, 
which separates the balsam. It is then collected and placed in suitable 
vessels for sale. It is a thickish liquid, with a fragrant aromatic smell 
and taste. 
Balsam of Tolu.—This is yielded by Myrospermum toluiferum, and is 
a product of similar character to the preceding. It is at first soft, but 
becomes hard and brittle by exposure. It is used in chronic coughs, and 
for other medicinal purposes. 
Gum butea.—This is the hardened juice of Butea frondosa, ( Fabacee, ) 
a tree that attains a medium height, and is very common in Bengal, and 
there known as the dak or tisso. From natural fissures, or wounds 
in the bark, there exudes, during the hot season, a beautiful red juice, 
which concretes into aruby colored, brittle, astringent gum, analogous 
to gum kino, for which it has been employed under the name of dak 
gum. It soon loses its beautiful color upon exposure to the air, when 
it becomes darker colored than the ordinary kino of commerce. This 
gum, when held in the flame of a candle, swells and burns away slowly, 
without smell or flame. If placed in the mouth it soon dissolves, its 
taste being strongly astringent. It is used for tanning leather. A 
coarse fibrous material obtained from the bark is used as a substitute 
for oakum for calking seams of boats. The lac insect punctures the 
young twigs, and causes the formation of the substance known as stick 
lac, used in the manufacture of sealing wax, and alsoasadye. The 
seeds yield a thick dark-colored oil called moodooga, which the native 
doctors consider to possess anthelmintic properties. 
Mastic is obtained from Pistacia lentiscus, (Anacardiacee,) a small 
evergreen tree, native of Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and West- . 
ern Asia. The resin is gathered from wounds made in the bark, from 
which it exudes in drops, and hardens into a semi-transparent gum. It 
