increased by offsets, which should he planted in very small pots ; and if, in taking off the suckers, you find 
them very moist where they are broken from the mother-root, they should lie in a dry shady place for a 
week before they are planted. When planted, treat them like the old plants. Such kinds as do not afford 
plenty of offsets may generally he propagated by taking off some of the under leaves, laying them to dry for 
ten days or a fortnight, and planting them, putting that part of the leaf which adhered to the old plant about 
an inch or an inch and a half into the earth. This should be done in June. 
There are few things, I believe, more venerable, more eloquently impressive in their antiquity, than an 
old tree. The ruins of an old and noble edifice, of which every shattered fragment, every gaping cranny, 
complains of the destructive hand of time, is young and modern in our eyes, compared with that which still 
survives its touch, — the old ivy, that still, with every succeeding year, moves slowly on, knitting its creeping ! 
stalks into every crevice, and carrying its broad leaves up- to the very summit. What can be more venerable 
than the far-spreading roots of an old elm or oak tree, veining the earth with wood ! Cross but that little piece ; 
of wood, called the wilderness, leading from Hampstead towards North End, where the intermingled roots are 
visible at every step, casing the earth in impenetrable armour, and forming a natural pavement, apparently I 
as old as time itself — can all the antiquities of Egypt command a greater reverence ? 
Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Barbadoes aloes is generally deeper coloured and more 
opaque than the Socotrine ; it is more tough, and when broken, presents surfaces less shining ; while its 
odour is very strong and highly offensive. Its colour when powdered is dirty yellow, and it is said to be 
more active than Socotrine aloes ; and hence, though its price usually exceeds that of the other, it is prin- I 
cipally employed in veterinary practice. It is composed of 42 parts of resin, 32 of extractive, the remainder J 
consisting of a matter analogous to albumen. 
Aloes, when pure, is completely soluble in water and alcohol; but the hepatic aloe only affords 86 parts 1 
of soluble matter to these menstrua. Aloes puffs up and crackles while burning, and gives out much thick I 
smoke, that smells strongly of the aloes. When boiled in water and reduced to an extract, it loses much of 
its purgative property. It is stated by Murray, that the substance of the leaves does not partake of the ! 
qualities of the extract, which is contained only in vessels situate immediately under the epidermis; and this 
explains why it is that the inhabitants of Cochin-china are able to prepare a wholesome fecula from them. 
The aloes examined by Braconnot appeared to that chemist to have some particular qualities, which induced 
him to consider it as a distinct substance, for which he proposes the name “ amer resmeux.” Trommsdorf, 
on the other hand, and Bouillon La Grange, and Vogel, consider it as composed of resin, and a peculiar 
extractive matter. M. Fabroni, in the Ann. de Chimie, (vol. xxv.) states that he procured from the leaves 
of the A. Socotrina var. angustifolia, a violet dye, which resists the action of oxygen, acids, and alkalies. 
This juice, he says, produces a superb transparent colour, which is highly proper for works in miniature, and 
which, when dissolved in water, may serve, either cold or warm, for dyeing silk from the lightest to the 
darkest shades; and he reckons it one of the most durable colours known in nature. Aloes was used 
among the ancients, in embalming, to preserve bodies from putrefaction. Of this kind interpreters under- j 
stand the aloes to have been, which Nicodemus brought to embalm the body of Christ. (John xix. 39.) 
“This well known inspissated juice,” says Professor Taylor, “of several varieties of plants, acts as a 
purgative in doses varying from five to twenty grains. When given in larger doses, or frequently repeated, 
it excites violent purging. It requires often many hours for its operation : it is less irritating than jalap or 
scammony, and it appears to act especially on the large intestines. 
“ Aloes, mixed with gamboge and colocynth, are said to be the basis of a certain quack medicine, sold 
under the name of Morisom's Pills. These have proved fatal in many instances from the exhaustion pro- 
duced by excessive purging, owing to the large quantity of these pills, taken in frequently-repeated doses. 
Our knowledge of the symptoms and post-mortem appearances produced by these irritants, is, indeed, j 
chiefly derived from the cases which have proved fatal under this pernicious treatment. In the seventeenth 
volume of the Medical Gazette, will be found four cases of this description. The most prominent symptom 
was excessive diarrhoea, with the discharge of large quantities of mucus and blood ; the individual became 
emaciated, and slowly sank from exhaustion. In some instances, the symptoms are those of inflammation 
and ulceration of the bowels. In 1836, a man was convicted of having caused the death of a person by the 
administration of these pills; in this instance the death of the deceased was clearly due to the medicine, — i 
and on inspection, the stomach was found inflamed and ulcerated; the mucous membrane of the small 
intestines was injected and softened, and there was the appearance of effused lymph upon it. An ingenious ; 
attempt was made in the defence to draw a statement from the medical witness, that the good effects of some 
medicines invariably increased in proportion to the quantities taken ! — this anti-homoeopathic proposition 
was, however, very properly rejected. In all cases, it must be remembered, that these drastic purgatives ; 
may cause serious symptoms, or even death, when administered to young infants, or to persons debilitated J 
by age or disease; nor is it necessary that the dose should be very large for fatal effects to follow. The ' 
medical question here may be, whether the medicine caused death directly, or whether it simply accelerated it. j 
Hicrapicra appears to be a popular aloetic compound, and one death is recorded to have been produced by i 
this in 1 837-8. In another instance death was caused by an individual taking aloes in nitric acid, in which 
case the mineral acid was most probably the destructive agent. A singular case occurred in Germany a few 
years since, wherein a medico-legal question was raised respecting the poisonous properties of aloes. A 
woman, aged 43, not labouring under any apparent disease, swallowed two drachms of powdered aloes in 
coffee. Violent diarrhoea supervened, and she died the following morning, twelve hours after having taken 
the medicine. On inspection the stomach was found partially, and the small intestines extensively, inflamed, j 
There were no other particular appearances to account for death, and this was referred to the effect of the aloes. 
“This case appears to show that aloes possesses an irritant action. A large dose given to a person de- 
bilitated by disease, might easily cause death as the result of exhaustion from hypercatharsis.” 
