z 
ihe aloe plants are in flower, and I have written to a person who is in 
the business for information on the — I have pde understood 
that Natal Aloes was made from A. ferox, but persons to whom I have 
shown that plant appear to be somewhat unde cided abet it, but all 
agree that there is but one species from which the drug is inade, though 
other and smaller growing species are to be wes in the district. 
rs, &c. : 
ine J. MEpLEY Woop. 
W. F. pr^ al Esq., E.R.S., C.M 
al Gardens, Kew. 
ed result of his Mb nes is contained in the following bhai 
report, dated May 13, 1890. From this it appears that the manu- 
facture of the drug is quite discontinued. Mr. Wood is of opinion m that 
its source was Aloe ferox, which according to he cud and Hanbury 
is one of the er “reputed to yield the Dest Cape Alo 
The facts bearing on the question are so far somewhine oe 
Tha present information is put together in the hope that it may lead t 
critical re-examination of the whole subject in South Africa. 
Some Notes on Natal Aloes. 
As the Director of Kew Gardens, and also Mr. Holmes, of the 
Pharmaceutical Society’s Museum, had expressed a wish for information, 
as to the plant from which Natal Aloes had been made, and for any 
information I could obtain on the subject, I decided to relinquish the 
idea of proceeding to Drakensburg for my annual botanising trip, and 
to visit the neighbourhood of Greytown instead, From this pl: ace some 
years ago the drug was exported in quantity, but at the present time its 
manufacture appears to be quite discontinued, and not a single person 
as engaged in it through the whole district, so far as I could learn. 
Tu also informed before leaving Durban that the A plants would 
ie in flower a the middle of April, later than which I could not 
journe ; this information n, however, proved incorrect, as I 
could not find a maai plant either in flower or bud, though I searched 
me iin de “ Doras,” and pointed out places where the ny non had 
been carried on. "Phe whole country, both on the level ground and far 
up the 1 hill sides, being thickly covered with the plants, so thickly that 
making our way between them n horseback was often a matter of 
Mr. Newmarch informed me that the ey are frequently met with from 
to 20 feet high. As to the species, it is undoubtedly the one which has 
always been ‘known to me as A, ferox, with perhaps a few of the variety 
'subferox, and in the district which 1 visited it is quite certain that no 
other species has been used in the manufacture, Mr. Newmarch, jun., 
however, informed me that across the Mooi River, and in the direction 
of Weenen, another species is found in moderate quantity, and its leaves 
have been used, but whether alone or mixed with those of 4. ferox I 
am unable to say; we were not, however, able to find even a single 
specimen of this plant, and the time at my disposal would not allow of my 
visiting the Weenen country on this occasion. ‘The plant was deseribed 
Eme a being mm B A, ge in size, the leaves light green or 
