278 DESCRIPT'IVE BOTANY. 



Geography. — The aloe is a tropical and subtropical plaut, and may be culti- 

 vated in all regions of no frost. It is found in southern Asia, Arabia, 

 southern Europe, and northern Africa ; but it abounds in south Africa, near 

 the Cape of Good Hope. It is largely cultivated in the British AVest Indies. 



Etymology. — Aloe, the generic name, is said to be derived from alloch, an 

 Arabic word. The Greek for the same is d\07j ; and the Latin, aloe, whose 

 figurative meaning, " bitterness," seems to suit the case, for the name could 

 not be more appropriate. Vulgaris, the specific name, is Latin for " common." 

 Socotrina is from the Island Socotra, where it was formerly cultivated. Spicata, 

 Latin for " spike-bearing," alludes to the form of inflorescence. Ferox, Latin 

 for " wild," in this case signifies " coarse" and "strong." 



History. — The aloe was known to the Greeks and Romans ; it was men- 

 tioned during the first century by both Dioscorides and Pliny. Its home is 

 Asia and Africa ; and it has been carried to the West Indies by Europeans, 

 and is cultivated there. 



Preparation. — There are three kinds of aloe known in commerce, namely : 

 Cape aloes, Barbadoes aloes, and the aloes of Socotra. The Cape aloes is obtained 

 from the leaves of A. spicata and A. ferox, and perhaps other species. The 

 leaves are cut from the plant and set into vessels to drain ; the sap, or juice, 

 is evaporated in iron vessels over a fire ; when reduced to a thick syrup, it is 

 poured into vessels to cool, in which condition it is sent to market in large 

 cases. At a temperature below 40° Fahrenheit, it is hard and brittle ; at a 

 higher temperature, it runs like pitch. The Barbadoes aloes is the product of 

 the A. vulgaris, which is under cultivation in that island, and in Jamaica. 



The juice, or sap, having been drained from the leaves, is stored in casks 

 until the collecting is over, when it is evaporated in copper kettles to a syrup, 

 then poured into gourds holding from three to seventy pounds, and thus sent 

 to market. This kind was first sold in Loudon in 1693. 



Socotrlne aloes is manufactured somewhere in the interior of Africa, taken to 

 the ports on the Red Sea, and thence to Zanzibar, from which place it is sent 

 to Bombay, where it is purified and shipped to England. Where the plants 

 grow that yield it, or hoAv it is prepared, is not very Avell known, but it is very 

 certain that the drug does not come from Socotra. 



Use. — Its medicinal properties are, when administered in small doses, stim- 

 ulant, tonic, stouiachic, and anti-bilious. When taken in large doses, it acts 

 violently upon the bowels, producing drastic purgation. It was formerly 

 extensively used in complaints of the liver. 



In Africa cords and nets are made of its leaf-fiber. Its juice has been used 

 in embalming, and as a varnish to protect against insects. 



Note. — The aloe of the Bible is a different plant. The reference made in 

 the Bible to aloe is always to the wood, and not to the plant ; and it is believed 

 that the resinous wood known to the Egyptians and Avestern Asiatics was the 

 product of a tree found in eastern Asia, Aquilaria Agallocha, Roxb., of the 

 order Thymeleaceje. The wood is very valuable, mostly for its fragrance when 

 burned. It sells in Bombay as high as $3.00 per pound for fine specimens. 



Okdek LX. PALM-aJ. 



Flowers small, dioecious or monoecious, seldom perfect, sessile or on 

 short pedicels ; perianth double, persistent, leathery, formed of a calyx 

 and calyx-like corolla ; sepals 3, distinct or coherent ; petals o, usually 



