•}  Examination  of  South  African  Aloes. 
357 
aloes  corresponds  with  the  Cape  aloes,  and  not  with  that  known  as 
I  may  add  that  I  carefully  evaporated  some  of  the  juice  in  a 
water-bath  soon  after  its  arrival,  but  that  the  resulting  aloes  was 
translucent. 
I  think  it  may,  therefore,  be  concluded,  since  the  translucent 
Natal  aloes  sent  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Wood  gave  the  same  reactions  as 
opaque  or  Hepatic  Natal  aloes,  that  the  aloes  known  in  English 
commerce  as  Natal,  or  Hepatic  Cape  aloes,  is  the  product  either  of 
Aloe  succotrina1  or  some  species  the  juice  of  which  gives  the  same 
chemical  reaction,  and  that  its  opacity  is  probably  due  to  some 
peculiarity  in  the  mode  of  manufacture.  Further,  it  appears  prob- 
able that  different  species  are  used  in  different  districts  in  Natal, 
and  that  no  botanist  has  yet  seen  the  opaque  aloes  manufactured. 
It  may  be  hoped  that  Mr.  J.  Medley  Wood,  aided  by  the  light 
already  thrown  on  the  subject  by  Messrs.  Bainbridge  and  Morrow, 
may  be  able  ultimately  to  clear  up  the  history  of  the  opaque  Natal 
aloes. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  April  4,  1891,  p.  898. 
EXAMINATION  OF  SPECIMENS  OF  SOUTH  AFRICAN 
Some  specimens  of  aloes  and  aloes  juice  were  recently  handed  to 
me  for  examination  by  the  Curator  of  the  London  Museums  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society.  These  consisted  of,  (1)  a  small  sample  of 
the  aloes  from  Natal,  sent  to  Kew  by  Mr.  J.  Medley  Wood,  a  note 
upon  which,  quoted  from  the  Kew  Bulletin,  has  already  appeared  in 
the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  (p.  495);2  (2)  aloes  prepared  from  a  South 
African  species,  and  believed  by  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes  to  be  Aloe 
platylepis,  or  an  undescribed  species  closely  allied  to  it ;  (3)  some 
juice  of  the  last-named,  which  had  been  in  the  Museum  since  1885. 
For  the  sake  of  uniformity  in  the  results  the  same  method  of 
testing  was  adopted  for  these  samples  as  described  in  the  Pharma- 
ceutical Journal,  January  18,  1890,  p.  570. 
1  Since  the  reactions  given  by  the  juice  of  A.  ferox,  Mill.,  in  the  Kew  Gar- 
dens and  those  of  the  juice  of  the  plant  believed  by  Mr.  Wood  to  be  A.  ferox 
are  different,  it  is  obvious  that  the  evidence  is  not  sufficient  to  attribute  Natal 
aloes  (as  distinct  from  Cape),  to  A.  ferox.  Further  comparison  of  Mr.  Wood's 
A.  ferox  with  allied  species  may  show  that  it  is  distinct. 
2  See  American  fournal  of  Pharmacy,  January,  1891,  p.  33. 
Natal. 
ALOES. 
By  J.  Bainbridge. 
i 
