152 
ON MOCHA OR BOi^IBAY ALOES. 
ing under an incised wound in the hock, he could not be exercised. 
On the third day the physic had set in him. No. 6 in the same table, 
in which the fsecal matter was relaxed only, was an animal that re¬ 
fused mashes, and would drink very little water; the groom also 
reported that he was always with difficulty purged. 
It must not be thought that these are the only instances in which 
I have tested this extract. It was frequently given, and with 
almost uniform success, both previous and subsequently to this op¬ 
portunity presenting itself for drawing so fair an inference. Its 
value as a cathartic is therefore, I think, established. Whether or 
not it will be generally employed by the profession, I, of course, 
cannot take upon myself to say. I have endeavoured to perform 
my duty. 
I would venture to suggest that, as many impurities are often 
mixed with it, the drug be broken into small pieces, and digested 
in water until the soluble parts are abstracted: the insoluble por¬ 
tions being then removed, the extractive may be obtained by the 
aid of the water-bath, and, during the process of evaporation, soap, 
or any other preferable agent, may be added, so as to form a mass 
of a fit consistence for exhibition. 
I have thought that, as so little is known respecting the manner 
of procuring this extract, our Indian brethren could furnish us with 
some particulars. I remember Mr. Hughes, of Calcutta, informing 
me that he always purchased his aloes from the Arabian merchants, 
probably from those who brought it direct from Mocha in the origi¬ 
nal packages consisting of goat-skins. He afterwards melted and 
strained it. Mr. Jackson, of the Honourable East India Company’s 
Service, tells me, that the extract used by him is sold in the bazaars 
in the Carnatic, and he thinks it is the produce of a plant growing 
in that part of Hindostan. It is very good, and very cheap. The 
usual dose given by him as a cathartic is half an ounce. 
In many parts of India, aloes of a very inferior quality is sold, 
and of many kinds; and, probably, that which reaches the English 
market, known as the Bombay extract, is a mixture of all of them. 
These differences may arise from the juice being obtained from dif¬ 
ferent kinds of aloes, from variations in the manner of preparing the 
extract, or from peculiarities in the mode of cultivating the plant. 
But, whichever may be the true cause, the necessity is clearly pointed 
out of our resorting to some meajis by which we may possess the 
active principle; for thus alone can we hope to obtain a compound 
of a uniform strength, and available for the purposes of the veteri¬ 
nary surgeon, to whom the failure in action of a dose of physic” 
is of far more importance than to the practitioner of human medi¬ 
cine. 
