Foreign Vegetables- 337 
Aloes, whether inwardly or outwardly ufed, has 
been much commended in all Ages. The Ancients 
afcribed to it a Virtue of purging, of flrengthen- 
ing the Bowels, opening the Veins, agglutinating 
Wounds and Ulcers, and flopping Fluxes of Blood. 
However, all Authors are not agreed upon thefe 
Virtues. 
1. They doubt whether it ought to be reckoned 
among Eccoproticks, or among Catharticks. Galen , 
on the Virtues of fimple Medicines , /. 6 . ranks it 
with fuch Medicines as draw forth the fecal Mat- 
ter from the Intellines, (viz.) with Eccoproticks 5 
and Paulus JEgineta agrees with him. The fame 
Galen , on the Competition of Medicines fecundum loca , 
l 8. c. 2. writes, that Aloes has a weak purgative 
Virtue, and only difeharges w r hat is lodged about 
the Belly. Again, on the Method of preferving 
Healthy l. 6 . c. 10. he fays it only purges Bile in 
the Belly : And in another Place he excludes Phlegm, 
where he tells us, that Aloes is of no Service to 
Perfons who have the Coats of their Stomach load- 
ed with thick Pituita or Phlegm. 
But the Arabians are of a contrary Opinion : 
And Mefue afTerts that this Medicine purges Bile, 
Phlegm, and other vifeid, tenacious and thick Hu- 
mours, that it cleanfes the Head and Stomach, and 
frees the Liver of Infarctions. 
In fhort, Aloes not only difeharges the fecal 
Matter lodged in the Belly, but alfo corre&s the 
Faults of the Bile, by dividing and attenuating it 
when too thick, and by fharpening it when inert, 
fo that afterwards it may flow with greater Eafe, 
and in greater Plenty, through the Intellines. But 
if it be given to promote a large Evacuation, it 
does not draw forth the Humours fo much as the 
Blood, which it ferments and rarefies in the hemor- 
rhoidal VefTels. Therefore Aloes, given in a fmall 
Z Dofe, 
