A L 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



A L O 



79 



tember, in a dry day, remove them into the house again, 

 water them once a week in winter, and give them fresh air 

 when the weather is warm. The hardier Aloes thrive best 

 abroad'in summer, and secured from cold and rain in winter. 

 The tender sorts should always remain in the stove, or be re- 

 moved to an airy glass-case during summer. Most Aloes are in- 

 creased by offsets, which should be taken from the mother 

 plants at the time they are shifted, and must be planted in 

 very small pots, filled with the same earth as was before di- 

 rected for the old plants. After planting, let them remain in 

 a shady place for a fortnight, then remove the tender kinds 

 to a very moderate hot-bed, and plunge the pots therein, which 

 will greatly facilitate their taking new root ; but observe to 

 shade the glasses in the middle of the day, and to give them 

 a great share of air. Towards the middle of August begin 

 to harden these young plants by taking off the glasses in good 

 weather, and giving them plenty of air, which is absolutely 

 necessary for their growth, and to prepare them to be re- 

 moved into the house, which must be done towards the end 

 of September ; and they will afterwards require the same 

 management as the old plants. The species are, 



1. Aloe Dichotoma ; Smooth-stemmed Tree Aloe. Branches 

 dichotomous ; leaves sword-shaped, serrate. Trunk round, 

 upright, very stiff, ash-coloured, twelve feet high, about the 

 thickness of a man's thigh. Native of the Cape ; where 

 the natives hollow out the trunk to make quivers for their 

 arrows. 



2. Aloe Perfoliata ; Pfrfoliate Aloe. Stem-leaves toothed, 

 embracing, sheathing ; flowers in corymbs, drooping, pe- 



duncled, subcylindrical. Of this species there are the 



following varieties. 



a. Aloe Arborescens ; Narrow-leaved Sword Aloe. Leaves 

 embracing, reflex, toothed ; flowers cylindrical ; stem shrub- 

 by. Has a strong naked stem, ten or twelve feet high, with 

 leaves of a sea-green colour, and very succulent ; the flowers 

 of a bright red, which grow in pyramidal spikes, and are in 

 beauty in November and December. 



P. Aloe Africana ; Broad-leaved Sword Aloe. Leaves 

 broader, embracing, thorny on the edge and back ; flowers 

 in spikes ; stem shrubby. This resembles the preceding 

 species, but has broader leaves, and the flowers grow in 

 looser spikes. 



7. Aloe Barbadensis ; Barbadoes Aloe. Leaves toothed, 

 upright, succulent, subulate ; flowers yellow, hanging down 

 in a thyrse. The flower-stem rises nearly three feet high. 

 This species, though generally known by the name of Bar- 

 badoes Aloe, is very common in the other islands of America, 

 where the plants are propagated on the poorest land to ob- 

 tain the hepatic aloes, which are brought to England, and 

 used chiefly for horses. At Barbadoes, in the month of 

 March, when the plants are a year old, they are cut just 

 above the surface of the earth, and placed in a tub, until 

 their juice is drained off, when they are thrown upon the 

 land by way of manure. The juice will keep several weeks 

 without injury. It is put into boilers, and thickened by a 

 regular fire till of a proper consistency to be ladled out into 

 gourds, or other small vessels fitted for its final reception. 

 As to the sun-dried aloes, which are most approved for me- 

 dicinal purposes, very little is made in Barbadoes. The process 

 is, to suspend bladders filled with the raw juice, and open at 

 the top in the sun every dry day until the fluid parts are ex- 

 haled, and a perfect resin formed ; which is then packed up 

 for use or exportation. Those lands in the islands of Bar- 

 badoes, which lie near to the sea, are subject to drought, and 

 are too stony and shallow to plant sugar canes, answer best 

 for the Aloe plaat. The larger stones are removed, and 



frequently formed into a surrounding fence. The land is 

 then lightly ploughed, carefully weeded, and the young 

 plants set like Cabbages, at about six inches from each 

 other. They are thus planted to be weeded by hand, and 

 will bear being planted in any season of the year, as they 

 will live on the surface of the earth for many weeks without 

 a drop of rain. 



. Aloe Socotorina ; Socotorine Aloe. Leaves very long 

 and narrow ; thorny at the edge ; flowers in spikes. This is 

 the true Socotorine Aloe, which is named from the island of 

 Zocotra or Socotora in the straits of Babelmandel, formerly 

 famous for the extract of this plant. It is of a yellowish 

 brown colour, approaching to purple : and when reduced to 

 powder, is a sort of gold colour. Socotorine Aloes may be 

 given in considerable doses, as a scruple, or half a drachm 

 at a time ; and is a very good purge, particularly as an 

 aperient, and remover of obstructions in phlegmatic habits. 

 The tincture, called Tinctura Sacra, or Hiera Picra, is a 

 solution of it in wine : it may be given as a purgative from 

 one to two ounces or more, or may be taken as an alterant 

 in smaller doses, and continued until it has produced a lax 

 habit or soluble state of the bowels. It is an excellent 

 medicine for languid and phlegmatic constitutions ; warm- 

 ing the solids, cleansing the intestines, and attenuating 

 viscid juices in the remoter parts. Spanish liquorice is said 

 to be the most efficacious ingredient of all others, in covering 

 the unpleasant taste of Aloes. Equal parts of Aloes and 

 Spanish juice dissolved in water, is said to be the most plea- 

 sant and useful of all the aloetic purges. Indeed the purga- 

 .tive properties of Socotorine aloes are universally known j 

 and the different preparations of it purify the blood, help 

 digestion, dissipate gross humours, and arc friendly to the 

 nervons system in general. They likewise powerfully re- 

 sist putrefaction, remove obstructions of the viscera, kill 

 worms in the stomach and intestines, cure the jaundice 

 and green sickness, provoke the menses and piles, and prove 

 serviceable in the ague, and all cold watery disorders ; but 

 should be forborne by such as have hot bilious constitutions 

 or gravelly complaints. It should not be given to pregnant 

 women, nor to those who spit blood, as in those cases it 

 might prove fatal. 



e. Aloe Purpurascens ; Wldte-spined Glaucous Aloe. Leaves 

 purplish beneath, with small roundish spots at bottom. 



f. Aloe Glauca ; Red-spined Glaucous Aloe. Stem short ; 

 leaves embracing, standing two ways ; spines on the edges 

 erect ; flowers growing in a head. 



0. Aloe Ferox ; Great Hedge-hog Aloe. Leaves embrac- 

 ing, very dark green, beset with spines on every side. It 

 rises to the height of eight or ten feet, with a strong stem. 

 It has not yet flowered in England, nor does it put out 

 suckers, so that it is difficult to propagate. 



1. Aloe Saponaria ; Great Soap Aloe ; and, 



K. Aloe Obscura ; Common Soap Aloe. Leaves broader, 

 spotted, thorny at the edge ; flowers in spikes. The first 

 seldom rises above two feet in height ; the leaves are very 

 broad at their base, where they closely embrace the stalk, 

 and gradually decrease to a point. The under leaves are of 

 a dark green colour spotted with white, resembling the 

 colour of soft soap. The flowers grow in umbels on the tops 

 of the stalks, are of a beautiful red colour, and appear in 

 August and September. The second has broader leaves, of 

 a lighter green ; the edges and spines are copper-coloured, 

 and the flowers grow in loose spikes 



\. Aloe Serrulata ; Hollow -haved Perfoliate Aloe. Leaves 

 spotted, finely serrate at the edge and the tip of the keel It 

 seldom rises above a foot high ; the leaves, which grow near 



