232 ALOE. 



the hand of man, is merely a stupendous mound, 

 which presents the appearance of a natural hill 

 covered with vegetation. In the distance rises the 

 volcano of Orizaba, shrouded with snow, and around 

 it lies a desolate plain, seven thousand feet above 

 the level of the sea. The towns, too, of Ilascala, 

 Huexocingo, and Cholula, once so populous and 

 flourishing, the smallest of which was compared by 

 Cortez to the best peopled cities of Spain, have 

 dwindled away, and scarcely a trace remains of their 

 former greatness. 



These stupendous mounds are associated in the 

 minds of travellers with the solitary aloes which 

 grow beside them; peculiar, in many of their species, 

 to South America, and such portions of North 

 America as verge towards the Line. These plants 

 yield profusely the juice that bears their name. 

 The juice is obtained by making an incision in the 

 leaves, from which it issues either spontaneously or 

 by pressing, and becomes hardened when exposed 

 to the sun. In smell it resembles myrrh, and when 

 pounded it yields a golden-tinted powder, which 

 ancient naturalists termed the gall of nature. It is 

 well known for its balsamic qualities: the physi- 

 cians of Egypt used the Asiatic species in embalm- 

 ing, when they desired to transmit to posterity the 

 features of the dead. One of the most remarkable 

 of the tribe is the giant aloe, the Agave Americana, 

 which, strictly speaking, is not an aloe, though 

 closely resembling the species whose name it bears. 

 Tropical America is the native region of this noble 

 plant. It also abounds in the dry and warm parts 

 of Southern Europe, along the sandy shores of the 



