SECTION III 



Medicines derived from the Vegetable Kingdom 



ALOES 



ALOE. Inspissated juice from the transversely-cut bases of 



the leaves of various species of Aloe, evaporated to 



dryness. Nat. Ord. Liliaceae. 

 ALOIN, C 17 H 18 7 . A crystalline substance extracted from 



aloes by solvents and purified by recrystallisation. 



(B.P.) ' 



The several species of Aloe, which yield the various com- 

 mercial aloes, are succulent, liliaceous perennials, having 

 short woody stems ; strong, thick, fleshy, amplexicaul 

 light-green leaves, with sharp, serrated edges, and a stout 

 spine projecting at the apex ; while on a slightly branched 

 scape is carried a raceme of yellow, scarlet, or white tubular 

 pendulous flowers. Underneath the leathery cuticle, and 

 exterior to the loose, mucilaginous pulp, lie elongated thin 

 walled cells, which contain the yellow, bitter, purgative 

 juice. 



BARBADOS ALOES. Aloe Barbadensis, or Curagoa aloes, 

 the product of the aloe vera, aloe chinensis, and probably 

 other species, is the variety chiefly used in veterinary 

 practice. It is imported from Barbados and most of the 

 West Indian islands. A dwarf variety is cultivated ; the 

 leaves, measuring a foot to two feet in length, are chopped 

 off close to the stem ; are placed for twelve to twenty hours 

 in tubs with their cut ends down ; from the longitudinal 

 vessels the juice trickles, is collected in casks, and heated 

 for four or five hours, sediment and impurities being care- 

 fully kept back. When sufficiently concentrated, the juice 

 is poured into gourd shells, and the opening closed by a 

 portion of shell let in, and secured in its place by a piece 



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