A L O 



the fourth fptcies. It grows in the clayey roil of Afnca. 

 14. A. y/>ytv;/i7, fpiked A. with flowers in fpikes horizon- 

 tal, bell-lhaped, and ilcm-lcavts, flat, embracing, and toothed. 

 This much rclcmbles the fccond fpecies, but is very differ- 

 tnt in the fpike and figure of the flowers. The flower is 

 full of a pui-ple honey juice. The belt and purefl: hepatic 

 aloes is obtained from this fpecies. It is found in the in- 

 terior regions of the Cape of Good Hope. 15. A. pic! a, 

 painted A. caulcfcent, with leaves fword-lhaped, toothed, 

 painted and patent, and flowers in racemes, reflex, and cy- 

 lindrical. There are two varieties ; a. A. major, A. per- 

 foluila, 3 and X Linn. 45S. /S. A. mkor, A. perfoliata /x, 

 Linn. 458, A. pafoliala, 1 faponaria Aiton, Kew. i. 467. 

 It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 1 6. A.finuata, 

 caulefctnt, with leaves fword-fliaped, hnuate-ferrated and 

 reflex, and flowers in racemes, ereft and cylindrical. This is 

 the A.perfo/hi/a | of Linn. 458, and it is fuggefted by Will- 

 denow that it is the A. pc rfo/iala y.barbmlenfisui Aiton, Kew. 

 I . p. 466, aiid the narrow-leaved fpinofe, A./iucolr'ma of Com- 

 mel. Hort. i. p. 91, and the A. Americana, with the reddifli 

 flowers of anana, of Phikenet. It is a native of Bar- 

 badoes and the Cape of Good Hope. Wartyn's Miller, 

 Gmelin's Linnaeus, AVilldcnow. 



La Marck enumeiates 31 fpecies, vrz. A. purpurea, 

 or A. of Bourbon, originally brought from that iiland : 

 when the leaves are cut, they yield a juice of a foetid 

 finell. 2. A. fucco'.rina. 3. A. vulgaris, Kadanaku or 

 Catevala of Rhetd, growing in the fandy ilony foil of 

 Milabar, and many parts of India, and alfo in feveral 

 provinces of America, as Mexico, New Spain, Brafd and 

 Barbadoes ; and yielding, by its purified juice, hepatic 

 aloes, and from its dregS a Icfs pure extract, called Cabal- 

 line aloes. 4.. A. vera, growing in India, of which the A. 

 vacULins of Forlk. Egypt. 74, n" 34. is a variety. 5. A. 

 Abvfinica, brought from Africa by Bi'uce, and larger and 

 moie refinous than the preceding fpecies. 6. A. fruticofa, 

 or arborefcens of Miller, l- A.ferox. ^. A. mkrsfonnis, 

 of w^hicli there is a variety, A. milrafonnls angujiior. 9. A. 

 maculofa, or the A. pi3a above mentioned. lo. A. teniiia- 

 fol'ia. 11, A. purfoliata, ai which are reckoned two varie- 

 ties, one commonly called A. with red fpines, and the other 

 artichoke A. 12. A. /ju;«;7;V, or A. with foft fpines. 13. 

 A. arachuo'tdea, with a variety commonly called the leall 

 aloe, growing in the fields and uncultivated parts of Ethi- 

 opia. 14. A. margaritifcra. 15. A. retufa. 16. A. ve- 

 nnfa. ly. A. marginata. Thefe are the A. africana, humilis, 

 &c. of Comm. Prjel. The former yields an aqueous infipid 

 juice. They are natives of Africa. 18. A. triangularis, or A. 

 vifcofa of Linnsus, a native of Ethiopia. 20. A. -varie- 

 frala of Linn ; the tnoft beautiful of the genus, a native 

 of Ethiopia. 21. A. acuminata, or A. verrucofa above- 

 mentioned. 22. A. carinata. 23. A. linguiformis, or A. 

 lingua. 24. A. pitcatilis. 25. A. longifolta, or aletris 

 waria of Linnseus, which La Marck thinks is enoneoufly 

 referred to that genus, of which it has no character. 26. 

 A. fpicata. 27. A. racemofd, which is a flrrub five or fix 

 feet high, obferved at the Cape of Good Hope, by Thun- 

 berg, and which, as La Marck fuggefts, may be the fame 

 ^■ith the 24th fpecies. 28. A. (hcbotoma. 29. A. Arabica, 

 er A. •uariegata, called in Arabia Bcfafil or Befelil. 30. 

 A. depenJens, found by FortTol in Arabia. Gmelin queries 

 whether this be a diflinft. fpecies. 31. A. inermis, found 

 by Forflt. in Arabia, but akin to the 17th fpecies. Encycl. 

 Method. Bot. torn. i. 



All the aloes are natives of hot climates ; and the place 

 «f growth of nioft of them is the Cape of Good Hope. 

 The Hottentots hollow out the trunk of the firA fpecies, or 



A L O 



A. dichotoma, to make quivers for their arrows ; and feve- 

 ral of them are ufcd for hedges. Among the Mahometans, 

 and particularly in Egypt, the aloe is a kind of fymbolic 

 plant, and dedicated to the offices of religion : for pilgrims, 

 on their return from Mecca, fufpend it over their doors as 

 an evidence of their having performed that holy journey. 

 The fuperllitious Egyptians imagine, that it has tlie virtue 

 of keeping off apparitions and evil fpirits from their houfes, 

 and it is hung over the doors of ChrilUans and Jews in 

 Cairo for this purpofe. They alfo dilli! from it a water, 

 which is fold in the fhops, and recommended in coughs, 

 afthmas, and hyfterics. HafTelquift; mentions a perfon who 

 was cured of the jaundice in four days by taking four tea- 

 cupfuls of it. Tlie Arabians call \\.J'ahbara. The negroes, 

 as we ai-e informed by Adanfon, in his voyage to Senegal, 

 make very' good ropes of the leaves of the Guinea aloes, 

 which are not apt to rot in water. M. Fabroni, as we 

 learn from the Annales de Chimie (vol. xxv.) procured 

 from the leaves of the aloe fuccotrina angujlifolia a violet 

 dye, which refiils the aftion of oxygen, acids, and alkalies. 

 This juice, he fays, produces a fuperb tranfparent colour, 

 which is highly proper for works in miniature, and which, 

 when diffolved in water, may fcrve either cold or warm, for 

 dying filk from tlie lighteft to the darkeft fhade : and he 

 reckons it one of the moft durable colours known in na- 

 ture. Aloes was ufed among the ancients, in embalming, 

 to preferve bodies from putrefaction. Of this aloes, inter- 

 preters underftand that to have been which Nicodemus 

 brought to embalm the body of Chrift. John, xix. 3. 



Aloes, whofe refinous part is not foluble in water, has 

 been ufed as a prefervative to fliips' bottoms againft, the 

 worms, to which thofe that trade to the Eaft and Weil 

 Indies are particularly fubjeft. One ounce of aloes is fuf- 

 ficient for two fuperficial feet of plank ; about 12 lb. for a 

 vefTel of 50 tons burthen, and 300 lb. for a firft rate man 

 of war. It may be incoi-porated with fix pounds of pitch, 

 one of Spanifh brown, or whiting, and a quart of oil ; or 

 with the fame proportion of turpentine, .'jpanifh brown, and 

 tallow. Such a coat, it has been faid, will prefer\e a fnip's 

 bottom eight months, and the expence for a firil rate (hip, 

 will be about 18/. The fame compofition may be ufed in 

 hot countries for prcfer\'ing rafters, &c. from the wood-ant. 

 The efficacy of aloes, as a defence againtt worms, has been 

 controverted. See aloes, infra. 



Propagation and Culture. — The foil in which thefe plants 

 thrive belt, is one half frelh, light earth, from a common ; 

 and if the turf is taken with it, and rotted, it is much bet- 

 ter ; the reft fliould be white fea-fand, and fifted hmc-rub- 

 bifti, each of thefe two, a fourth part ; mix thefe together 

 fix or eight months at leaft before it is ufed, obferving to 

 turn it over often in this time. The middle of July is a 

 verj' proper feafon to fliift the plants ; at which time you 

 may take them out of the pots, and with your fingers opea 

 the roots, and fl^.ake out as much of the earth as polfible, 

 taking off" all dead or mouldy roots, without wiunding the 

 yoiuig frefh ones : then fill the pot about three parts full of 

 the above mentioned carfh, putting a few Hones at the 

 bottom of the pot to drain off the raoiflure ; and after dif- 

 pofing the roots in Inch a manner as to prevent their in- 

 terfering too much with each other, put in as much of the 

 fame earth, as to fill the pot almoft to the brim, fliaking 

 the plant fo as to let the earth in between the roots, and 

 fettling it clofe to the roots with your hand to place 

 it fl:cady in the pot ; then water them gently, and fet 

 them abroad in a fliady place, where they may remain for 

 three weeks, giving them gentle waterings, if the weather 

 be hot and dry. 



Toward 



