ALOE. 
105 
of which are natives of Africa, and most of them 
are to be found in the neighbourhood of the Cape. 
The great benefit which mankind have long de- 
rived from the juice of these plants, has oc- 
casioned their introduction into other quarters of 
the world ; and they have been long since na- 
turalised in India, Persia, Arabia, and the southern 
parts of America. The most prominent species, 
and those best known in the commercial world, are 
the Aloe perfoliata , and the Aloe sinuata. The for- 
mer furnishes us with the best sort of aloes, called 
socotorine, from the island of Socotora, in the In- 
dian Ocean, where the juice of the plant is prepared 
for the druggist, and from whence it is exported 
wrapped in skins. The second kind is the hepatic, 
or common aloes. This is obtained from the last- 
mentioned species, and is stronger and more nau- 
seous than the socotorine. The Aloe sinuata is cul- 
tivated in Barbadoes, from whence we receive the 
best hepatic aloes in large gourd shells, while an in- 
ferior sort is sent to Europe in casks. The manner 
in which this useful plant is raised, and the juice 
exhausted from it, is thus described in the eighth 
volume of the London Medical Journal : u The 
lands in the vicinity of the sea, that is from two to 
three miles, which are rather subject to drought 
than otherwise, and are so stony and shallow as 
not to admit of the planting of sugar-canes with 
any prospect of success, are generally found to an- 
swer best for the aloe plant. The stones, at least 
the larger ones, are first picked up, and either 
