6 PLORA DOMESTICA. 



five inches long. It will bear the open air, and, when the 

 weather is dry, should he watered every evening. The 

 young suckers from the roots must be taken off every 

 year, or they will starve the parent plant : they may be 

 planted in February or October, and should be placed 

 in the shade till they have taken root. The fruit of this 

 shrub is about the size of a hazel-nut, and has the taste of 

 the peach-kernel. 



Plutarch mentions a great drinker of wine, who, by the 

 use of bitter almonds, used to escape being intoxicated. 

 The Italians, upon their favourite modern principle of 

 contra stimulants, suppose this very likely ; and so it may 

 be ; but it need not be added, that to tamper in this manner 

 with diseases seems very dangerous. 



ALOE. 



ASPHODELEJE. HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



THE derivation of this name is uncertain. Beginning 

 with the syllable Al, it is, perhaps, of Arabian origin; 

 especially as the plant is much venerated in the East. In 

 the Hebrew, a cognate language, it is called ahalah : some 

 derive Aloes from the Greek als [the sea] ; others from the 

 Latin, adolendo,- but this can only refer to the Aloe-wood, 

 which is used in sacrifices for its fragrance. On the whole, 

 it is probable the name was first applied to the Aloe-wood, 

 and hence transferred to the common Aloes, on account of 

 their bitterness. Its medicinal virtues were made known 

 to us by Dioscorides, the physician of Cleopatra; and it is 

 also mentioned by Plutarch. The name Aloe is retained by 

 all the European nations. 



From the specimens we are in the habit of seeing in this 

 country, we should be inclined to think that the utility of 



