538 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



succulent leaves close to the stalk; these are 

 immediately put into the tubs and disposed one 

 by the side of another in an upright position, 

 that all the loose liquor may flow out at the 

 wound. When this is thought to be almost 

 wholly discharged, the leaves are taken out one 

 by one, passed through the hand to clear off any 

 part of the juice that may yet adhere or stick in 

 the less open veins; and the drained liquor is put 

 into shallow flat-bottomed vessels, and dried 

 gradually in the sun until it acquires a proper 

 consistence. What is obtained in this manner 

 is generally called socotrine aloes, and is the 

 clearest and most transparent, as well as the 

 highest in esteem and value.* The method of 

 procuring the common aloes in Barbadoes is thus 

 described by Millington.t After a quantity of 

 juice is drained from the leaves, it is carried to 

 the boiling house. One, two, or three iron or 

 copper boilers, are placed on the fire and fiUed 

 with juice. As the boiling goes on and tlie fluid 

 becomes thicker by evaporation, it is ladled for- 

 ward from boiler to boiler; and fresh juice is 

 added to the first boiler as it is gradually emptied. 

 When the juice in the third boiler, which is the 

 smallest, has arrived at a proper degree of con- 

 sistency, it is ladled out into gourds; and this is 

 known by dipping in a small piece of wood, 

 allowing the matter to cool, and then observing 

 whether the resin cuts freely, or comes away in 

 thin flakes from the stick. A little lime water 

 is used by some aloe boilers during the process, 

 when the ebullition is too great. The sun-dried 

 resin, which is a tedious process, is seldom made 

 in Barbadoes. Dr Wright gives a somewhat 

 different account of the manufacture of aloes. 

 According to him the plant is pulled up by the 

 roots, and carefully cleansed from earth or other 

 impurities. It is then sliced and cut in pieces, 

 and put into small hand baskets or nets; these 

 are put into large iron boilers with water, and 

 boiled for ten minutes, when they are taken out 

 and fresh parcels supplied, till the fluid becomes 

 strong and black. At this period the liquor is 

 thrown through a strainer into a deep vat, nar- 

 row at bottom, and left till it cools, and deposits 

 its feculent parts. Next day the clear liquor is 

 drawn off by a cock, and again committed to the 

 large iron vessel. At first it is boiled briskly, 

 but towards the end the evaporation is slow, and 

 requires constantly stirring to prevent burning. 

 When it becomes of the consistence of honey, 

 it is poured into gourds or calabashes for sale. 



The socotrine aloe was formerly procured 

 from the island Socotra, or Zocotra, at the 

 mouth of the red sea. It comes wrapt in skins, 

 and is of a bright glossy surface, in the lump, of 

 a yellowish red colour, with a tinge of purple; 

 when reduced into powder it is a golden yellow. 



• Brown's JanuUco. t Hi»t. of Barbadoes. 



Its consistency alters with heat and cold. Its 

 bitter taste is accompanied byan aromatic flavour, 

 but not sufficient to prevent its being disagree- 

 able. The smell is not very unpleasant, and 

 sometimes resembles that of myrrli. The hepatic 

 aloes are chiefly brought from Barbadoes; the best 

 sort in large gourd shells, the inferior kind in 

 pots, and a still worse in casks; it is of a darker 

 colour, and not so clear as the other. It is gen- 

 erally drier and more compact, though some- 

 times the inferior sort is soft and clammy. Its 

 smell is much stronger, and more disagreeable; 

 the taste intensely bitter and nauseous, with 

 little aromatic flavour. 



The Horse Aloe is easily distinguished from 

 both the foregoing, by its strong rank smell. 

 In other respects it resembles the hepatic, and is 

 sometimes as clear and bright as the socotrine, 

 only its smell is disagreeable, and devoid of all 

 aromatic odour. This kind, as the name implies, 

 is used chiefly by Farriers. 



Aloes consists of a resin and gummy matter 

 united. It readily dissolves in proof spirits, 

 and in hot water, but not so perfectly. The 

 hepatic contains more resin and less gum than 

 the socotrine, and on the gum its active prin- 

 ciple depends. 



It is a universal and weU kno^vn purgative, 

 and forms the principal part of most aperient 

 pills. It is thought to act chiefly on the lower 

 and larger intestines, and is not so frequently 

 given alone as in conjunction with rhubarb, 

 colocynth, and scammony. It will in many 

 cases act in the quantity of three or four grains, 

 in others, from twenty to thirty grains is a usual 

 dose. 



This drug was known to the ancients, and 

 employed by Dioscorides, Celsus, and Avicenna, 

 although it is not mentioned by Hippocrates. 



It is one of the safest and best warm and 

 stimulating purgatives to persons of sedentary 

 habits, and phlegmatic constitutions. 



Colocynth (cucumis cohcynthis). Natural 

 family cucurbitaceae ; moncecia, syngenesia, of 

 Linna;us. This is one of the gourd family, and 

 is common in Turkey; although it is not well 

 ascertained in what country it is indigenous. It 

 is an annual trailing and climbing plant, like 

 the garden cucumber. The leaves arc triangular, 

 obtusely notched, hairy, green on the upper 

 surface, and light-coloured, and rough on the 

 under. The flowers are small, solitary, and of 

 a yellow colour. The fruit is a round gourd, 

 about the size of an orange, divided into three 

 cells, abounding with a pulpy matter, and con- 

 taining numerous oval, compressed seeds. It 

 seems to have been cultivated in Britain in the 

 time of Turner; but in our Iiot-houses its fruit 

 is rarely developed. The spongy medullary part 

 of the fruit is that which possesses medicinal 

 activity; it is nauseous, acrid, and intensely 



