ALOES 



87 



indigenous to Africa and India and naturalized in the West Indies. 

 There are three principal commercial varieties of aloes: (1) Socotrine 

 (and Zanzibar) Aloes, derived from Aloe Perryi, and probably other 

 species of Aloe, growing on the island of Socotra and in Eastern 

 Africa, and exported by way of Bombay; (2) Curagao (and Bar- 

 badoes) Aloes, obtained from Aloe chinensis and Aloe vera, growing 

 in Curasao and other islands of the Dutch West Indies; and (3) 

 Cape and Uganda Aloes, obtained probably from Aloe ferox, growing 

 in Southern Africa, and exported from Cape Town and Mossel Bay. 

 The leaves of the Aloe plant are cut transversely and the juice which 



Fia. 33. A small clump of plants of Aloe Perryi growing in Minas Geraes, 

 Brazil. The spinose, fleshy leaves are clustered at the base and from the 

 middle of the cluster arises a scape terminated by a raceme of orange-red or 

 scarlet flowers. The plant is native to the island of Socotra and the southern 

 shores of the Red Sea, and is the source of Socotrine aloes. The latter is 

 chiefly produced on the island of Socotra and consists of the inspissated 

 juice of the leaves. Reproduced by permission of the Philadelphia Com- 

 mercial Museum. 



exudes is allowed to evaporate spontaneously, it being usually, 

 however, concentrated by boiling and then poured into boxes 

 (Fig. 34) or gourds, and occasionally it is found in commerce enclosed 

 in monkey-skins (Fig. 35). Socotrine aloes commands the highest 



