A L 
they are flefliy and entire, their edges being very (lightly 
ferrated : they are curioufly veined and fpotted, fomewhat 
like the feathers on a partridge’s bread. The flowers 
grow in very loofe fpikes, upon llalks about one foot high ; 
they are of a fine red colour, tipped with green. 
11. Aloe vifcofa, or upright triangular aloe : fubcaule- 
fcent, leaves imbricate in three ranks ovate, flowers in ra¬ 
cemes drooping cylindrical. Grows near a foot high, and 
is furnifhed with triangular leaves, from the ground up¬ 
ward ; thefe are of a dark green colour, and are placed in 
form of a triangle; the flowers grovy thinly on very (len¬ 
der peduncles, they are of a herbaceous colour, and their 
upper part turns backward. 
12. Aloe fpiralis, or fpiral aloe: fubcaulefcent, leaves 
imbricate in eight ranks ovate, flowers in racemes curved 
back. Grows fomewhat like the eleventh, being befet 
with leaves from the bottom, but they are rounder, and 
end in (harp points; the flowers alfo grow upon taller 
(ferns, which branch out, and produce long dole fpikes. 
A variety of this has been raifed from feeds, w'hich is 
much larger, the leaves thicker, and the (fern taller. 
13. Aloe retufa, or cufliionaloe: ftemlefs, leaves in five 
ranks deltoid. Cufhion aloe has very (hort, thick, (Oc¬ 
cident, leaves, which are comprefled on their upper fide 
like a cufliion, from whence it had the name. This grows 
very clofe to the ground, and puts out fuckers on every 
fide : the flowers grow on (lender ftalks, and are of a her¬ 
baceous colour. 
14. Aloe fpicata, or (piked aloe: flowers in fpikes ho¬ 
rizontal bell-fhaped, (fem-leaves flat embracing toothed. 
It much refembles the fecond fpecies, but is very diffe¬ 
rent in the fpike and figure of the flowers. The flower 
is full of a purple honey juice, and the bed and pured 
hepatic aloe is obtained from this fpecies. 
Medical Qualities and other UJ'es. The infpiflated juice of 
the various fpecies of aloe is a hot irritating purgative. 
Three forts of it are ufed in the (liops, viz. the aloe foco- 
trina as it is called in the materia medica, which is the 
aloevera of Miller. It is gentler and purer than the others, 
and is generally the only kind ufed in medicine. Itisdif- 
tinguifhed from the other kinds by having little or no 
fmell: it is the bafis of mod of the empyrical pills, as 
Anderfon’s, &c. &c. Succotrine aloes may be given in 
eonfiderable defies, as a fcruple or half a dram at a time; 
and is a very good purge. It is particularly ufeful in 
phlegmatic habits, as it is a good aperient and deobdruent. 
The tincture called tinEluraJ'acra, or hiera pic.ra, is a folu- 
tion of it in wine. It may be given as a purgative from 
one to two ounces or more, or may be taken as an alterant 
in fmaller dofes, and continued till it has induced a lax 
habit, or foluble date of the bowels. It is an excellent 
medicine in languid phlegmatic habits; warming the fo- 
lids, cleanfing the primae vise, and attenuating vifeid juices 
in the remoter parts. The hepatic aloes is (aid by fome 
to be preferable (as the bafis of a common purge) to the 
fuccotrine, as not dimulating fo much. The London col¬ 
lege however ufe only the fuccotrine. The pills called 
pil. ruji, and the pil. rudii, are both aloetics, and are ex¬ 
tremely ferviceable medicines. Spanifh liquorice is faid 
to be the mod efficacious ingredient of all others, in co¬ 
vering the ill tade of aloes. Equal parts of aloes and 
Spanifli liquorice, diffiolved in water, is faid to be one of 
the mod pleafant and ufeful aloetic purges of all others. 
The medicine called elixir aloes is a liquid pil. rufi : and it 
may be taken in dofes of from twenty drops to a tea- 
fpoonful. Elixir proprictatis is the fame medicine, with 
the ingredients in a fomewhat different proportion ; adofe 
of which is from twenty drops to a tea-fpoonful, twice a 
day. As the droffy refinous part of aloe is not foluble in 
water, it has been found, when combined with other 
mixtures, an excellent prefervative to (hip’s bottoms againd 
the worm, to which (hips trading to the Ead or Wed In¬ 
dies are particularly fubjeid. One ounce of aloes is fuffi- 
cient for two fuperficial feet of plank ; about twelve pounds 
for a veffel of fifty tons burthen, and three hundred pounds 
o E. 36 j 
for a fird-rate man of war. It may be incorporated with 
fix pounds of pitch, one pound of Spanifli brown or whi¬ 
ting, and a quart of oil; or with the fame proportion of 
turpentine, Spanifli brown, and tallow. Such a coat will 
preferve a fliip’s bottom eight months, and the expence 
of a fird-rate (hip will be about 18 1 . The fame compo- 
lition may be ufed in the hot countries for preferving raf¬ 
ters, See. from the wood-ant.—The Hottentots hollow out 
the trunk of the fird fpecies to make quivers for their 
arrows. And feverql of them are ufed for hedges. 
Propagation and Culture. The foil in which thefe plants 
thrive bed, is one half frefli light earth from a common 
(and, if the turf be taken from it and rotted, it is much 
better) ; the red fliould be white fea-fand or road-fand 
and fitted liine-rubbi(h, of each of thefe two a fourth 
part; mix them together fix or eight months at leal! before 
the compod be ufed, obferving to turn it over often in the 
time. The middle of July is a very proper feafon to fhift 
thefe plants; at which time you may take them out of the 
pots, and with your fingers open the roots, and drake out 
as much of the earth as pollible, taking off all dead or 
mouldy roots, but do not break or w'ound the young frefh 
ones : then fill the pot about three parts full of the above- 
mentioned earth, putting a few fiones in tiie bottom of 
the pot, to drain off the moidure; and, after placing the 
roots of the plant in fuch a manner as to prevent their in¬ 
terfering too much with each other, put in as much of 
the fame earth as to fill the pot almod to the rim, and 
obferve to (hake the plant, fo as to let the earth in between 
the roots; and then with your hand fettle it clofe to the 
roots of the plant, to keep it deady in the pot; then water 
them gently, and fet them abroad in a fhady place, where 
they may remain for three weeks, giving them gentle wa¬ 
terings, if the weather fhould prove hot and dry. Tow’ard 
the end of September, in a dry day, remove them into 
the hotife again, obferving to give them as much, free open 
air as pollible while the weather is warm; but, if the 
nights are cool, you mud (hut up the glades, and give 
them air only in the day; and, as the cold increafes, you 
mud not open the glades, but obferve to give them gentle 
waterings often, till the middle of Ofilober, when you 
mud abate watering according to the heat of the houfein 
which they are kept f For thole plants which are placed 
in a dove will require to be watered at lead once a week, 
mod part of the winter; whereas thofe which are kept in 
a green-houfe, without artificial heat, fliould not be wa¬ 
tered oftener in winter than once a month. When thefe 
hardier forts of aloes are placed abroad in dimmer, they 
fliould have but little water given them; and, if much 
rain fliould fall during the time they are abroad, they fhould 
be fereened from it: for, when they imbibe much wet in 
dimmer, they frequently rot the following winter, efpeci- 
ally if they are not kept in a moderate warm air. There¬ 
fore, thofe w ho choofe to treat thefe plants hardily, fliould 
be cautious of their receiving too much moifture. The 
tender forts, as the vifcofa, ferox, and cobweb, aloes, fhould 
condantly remain in the dove, or be removed in fummer 
to an airy glafs-cafe, where they may have free air in 
warm weather, but be protefted from rain and cold. With 
this management the plants w ill thrive and increafe, and 
fuch of them as ufually flower may be expedited to pro¬ 
duce them in beauty at their feafons. The hardier forts 
thrive much better when they are expofed in dimmer, and 
fecured from the coid and rain in w inter, than if they are 
treated more tenderly. For, when they are placed in a 
dove, they are kept growing-all the winter, w hereby they 
are drawn up weak; and, although they will flower often¬ 
er when they have a moderate (hare of heat, yet in two or 
three years the plants will not appear fo fightly as thofe 
which are more hardily treated. Mod of thefe aloes ase 
increafed by offsets, which fliould be taken from the mo¬ 
ther plant at the time when they are (liifted, and mud be 
planted in very fmall pots, filled with the fame earth as 
was directed for the old plants; but if, in taking the fuck¬ 
ers off, you obferve that part which joined to the mother 
root 
