.204 the associations OF FLOVTERS 
which are in England were introduced from the Cape of 
Good Hope, where they are very numerous. 
The drug called aloes is the thickened juice of the aloe, 
and is procured by cutting the leaves in pieces and press- 
ing and boiling them. Various kinds of aloe are culti- 
vated for medicinal purposes in the West India Islands, 
and at the Cape of Good Hope. The flowers of these 
plants are almost all of a yellowish green, but are rarely 
seen in this climate. 
The Mahometans, especiallv those who reside in Egypt, 
regard the aloe as a religious symbol ; and the Mussulman 
who, having performed a pilgrimage to the shrine of the 
Prophet, considers himself ever after entitled to the vene- 
ration of a saint, hangs the aloe over his doorway, as a 
sign that he has accomplished this duty, and expects that 
it shall procure for him the reverence of every true dis- 
ciple of the crescent. The Mahometans believe also that 
any malign genius would shrink from entering the house 
whose owner could display so holy a symboL In Cairo 
the Jews likewise adopt the practice of hanging up the 
aloe, from a belief in the latter superstition — influenced 
by the same vague fear of evil spirits which induces the 
ignorant in the country places of our own land to nail a 
horse-shoe over the entrance to their houses, as a security 
against similar objects of dread. 
Peculiar regard is paid by the Mahometans to their 
burying-places. They are planted with trees and flowers ; 
and whole families often resort thither to enjoy the shade 
and coolness of these spots. So that it is not uncommon 
in Eastern countries to find some who, like the afflicted 
youth mentioned in the New Testament, dwell among the 
tombs. In the neighbourhood of Mecca, at the extremity 
of almost every grave, on a spot facing the epitaph, Burck- 
hardt found planted a low, shrubby species of aloe, wdiose 
Arabic name, “saber,” signifies “patience.” The plant 
is evergreen, and requires very little water for its susten- 
ance. Its name, patience, alludes to the length of time 
which must elapse between the entombment of the dead 
and the great day of resurrection. 
The different kinds of agave and aloe, destined as they 
are to inhabit countries where the sun has great power 
and the soil much aridity, and where the rainy seasons 
