100 
ALOE VULGARIS. 
tity of Cape Aloes sent to London, from 1799 to 1802, inclusive, 
was 341,927 lbs.* 
Qualities, &c. The best Socotrine Aloes is hard and friable in 
the winter, but somewhat pliable in the summer, and softens between 
the fingers ; the lumps are of a yellowish red colour, with a cast of 
purple ; surface very glossy, as if varnished, and semi-transparent ; 
when reduced to powder, of a bright golden yellow : it has a pecu- 
liar aromatic odour, and a strong bitter taste. The Cape Aloes re- 
sembles the above, excepting in its odour, which is more powerful, 
and more disagreeable, and the inside of the lumps is apt to continue 
soft and pliable ; it is imported in casks and chests. The Bombay 
Aloes is rather duller and browner, but in other respects, differs very 
little from the true Socotrine. Aloes are prepared at the Island of 
Zocotra, by cutting the leaves off close to the stem,f then cutting 
them into pieces and expressing the juice, which is allowed to remain 
at rest for forty-eight hours, during which time the feculent matter 
is deposited ; after which the supernatant liquor is poured off into 
flat dishes, and evaporated in the sun to a proper consistence. 
Qualities, &c. of Barbadoes or Hepatic Aloes. The 
odour of the Barbadoes Aloes is stronger and less pleasant than that 
of the Socotrine, the taste is intensely bitter and nauseous, with 
little or nothing of the aromatic flavour of the latter. This sort of 
aloes is of two kinds ; that brought from the East Indies, is of a 
light brown or reddish yellow colour, and breaks with a clean frac- 
ture, and possesses nearly the same medicinal properties as the true 
Socotrine. J That brought from Barbadoes, is not so clear and 
bright as the foregoing ; its texture is also more compact, it is less 
brittle, but drier. The best aloes that comes from Barbadoes is in 
large gourd shells, the inferior sorts are imported in casks. 
Caballine Aloes is a very inferior sort, and may be readily dis- 
tinguished from both the foregoing by its strong rank smell ; it is 
* Vide Travels in Africa. 
f The juice expressed from the thick leaves acquires a purple colour in the air, and 
furnishes a permanent dye.* In Barbary, a cloth of a very beautiful texture, (resembling 
silk) is manufactured from the ligneous part of the leaves and stalk. In Cochin 
China, a wholesome and edible fecuia is also prepared from them. —Ed. 
t The East India or Bombay Aloes is very generally sold in the shops for the geHuiue 
Socotrine aloes. — Ed. 
* Ann. d« Chimie, vol. xxv. 
