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ALOINE. 
obtainable — one,  an  unnamed  resin,  very  much  like  anime  ; 
another  termed  Axin  resin,  which  burns  with  little  flame  and 
blackens,  having  evidently  much  gum  with  it — a  whiter  kind, 
called  Archipan  resin,  has  much  the  same  properties,  and  a  bitter 
flavor.  A  nominal  copal  from  the  same  quarter,  resembles  very 
closely  the  resin  of  Tacamahaca,  being  of  a  white  color,  with  a 
coniferous  smell. 
Gum  Anime  of  commerce  is  a  resin  of  great  value  to  the 
varnish  maker,  but  is  now  largely  replaced  by  copal.  Much  of 
the  anime  received  is  believed  to  be  the  produce  of  the  locust 
tree,  Hymenoea  Courbaril,  and  is,  therefore,  Western  anime,  the 
Courbaril  resin  of  Demerara.  It  is  obtained  there  by  digging  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  roots  of  the  tree,  from  which  it  exudes  in  a 
vertical  direction  in  columns  or  pieces,  upwards  of  a  foot  in 
length.  It  may  also  be  obtained  by  tapping  the  tree,  when  in 
the  course  of  a  few  days  a  large  solid  mass  is  formed.  It  may 
be  obtained  in  great  abundance  in  various  parts  of  British 
Guiana. 
The  best  anime  is,  however,  obtained  from  Zanzibar,  and 
some  other  parts  of  Africa,  whence  it  is  imported  in  mats,  and 
the  fine  and  medium  in  cases.  The  imports  are  not  large  of 
gum  anime.  In  some  years  it  has  reached  thirty  tons,  in  others 
it  has  not  exceeded  five  or  six.    We  now  receive  about  280  tons. 
(To  be  continued.) 
_  
ALOINE. 
By  Mr.  T.  B.  Groves. 
In  the  July,  1851,  number  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal, 
appeared  a  paper  by  Messrs.  Smith  of  Edinburgh,  on  Aloine,  a 
crystalline  principle  they  had  succeeded  in  isolating  from  Bar- 
badoes  aloes,  and  which  they  regarded  as  its  active  principle. 
They  proved  also  the  existence  of  this  body  in  a  crystalline  state 
in  the  Cape  and  Socotrine  varieties,  though  they  succeeded  in 
obtaining  from  them  only  very  insignificant  quantities. 
The  behavior  of  aloine  with  reagents  was  fully  detailed  by 
them,  and  its  formula  supplied,  as  obtained  by  Dr.  Stenhouse, 
This  latter  Chemist  also  devoted  considerable  attention  to  the 
subject,  and  arrived  at  the  same  results  as  Messrs.  Smith — that 
