10 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



in March, following. The plants thrive for ten to 

 twelve years if good manure is used every three or four 

 years. Similarly the aloe plant (Aloe vulgaris, var. 

 chinensis), is now cultivated in the Dutch island of 

 Curasao. No fertilizer whatever is required, nor any 

 preparation of the soil. The young plants thrive even 

 though the roots have to work their way between 

 stones. When sufficient rain falls, abundant juice is 

 produced, and many young sprouts are formed around 

 the mother plant. They are sold by the thousand on 

 the Curagao market. 



"Mr. Simmonds in the same work described the mode 

 of preparation of aloes, as observed by him in the West 

 Indian Islands and also as it is conducted in Cape 

 Colony. 



"A more recent report on the collection and treatment 

 of the aloe in the island of Curasao, by Mr. E. M. 

 Holmes, (322), in the Pharm. Jour. Trans., Vol. XX, 

 1889-1890, p. 561, and Vol. XXI, 1890-1891, p. 205, 

 gives the following details: 



' 'The aloe plants are cut after sufficient rain has fallen, 

 the time being selected so as to obtain a juice that is 

 neither too watery, as is the case after much rain, nor 

 too thick, as is the result in the dry season. In Aruba 

 the cutting is done by men, in Curasao and Bonaire by 

 women. The operator seizes the crown of the leaves 

 with one hand, and by one horizontal stroke with a 

 broad knife, severs them from the base of the stem. 

 The leaves are at once placed, base downward, in slop- 

 ing wooden troughs, which are open at one end. The 

 exuding juice is collected in tin vessels which when 

 filled are emptied into barrels. The abstracted leaves 

 are then spread on the ground, and when dry are oc- 



