508  Curacoa  Aloes. 
Oct., 
Curacao,  the  principal  island  of  the  group  and  its  trading  centre. 
Hence  the  drug  is  only  known  as  Curacao  aloes,  although  the  output 
of  the  island  of  Curacao  itself  is  insignificant,  the  yield  being  : 
1885.  1886.  1887. 
Kilos.  Kilos.  Kilos. 
In  Curacao,   2,080  500  — 
In  Bonaire,   5,821  18,640  2,075 
In  Aruba,  123,115  158,011  189,925 
CURACOA  ALOES.1 
By  E.  M.  Holmes,  F.L.S. 
Curator  of  the  Museum  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain. 
During  the  last  month  there  has  been  presented  to  the  Society's^ 
Museum,  by  D.  F.  van  Eeden,  of  Haarlem,  specimens  of  the  leaves- 
and  flowers  of  the  aloe  from  which  Curacoa  aloes  is  prepared. 
In  a  previous  note  (Pharm.  Journ.,  [3],  xx,  p.  562)  I  pointed  out 
the  probability  that  this  variety  of  aloes  might  perhaps  owe  its 
distinct  appearance  and  peculiar  odor  to  the  presence  in  the  island 
of  some  other  species  of  aloes  as  well  as  the  A.  vulgaris.  In  sub- 
sequent letters,  however,  Professor  van  Eeden  stated  that  so  far  as 
he  could  learn  only  one  species  of  aloes  is  cultivated  in  the  island 
at  the  present  time,  and  he  kindly  promised  to*  obtain  flowering 
specimens  of  the  plant  for  identification.  These  specimens  arrived 
during  the  past  month,  the  leaves  being  preserved  in  spirit  and  the 
inflorescence  in  vaselin,  so  that  the  color  and  consistence  of  the 
flowers  was  well  retained.  These  specimens  have  been  examined 
by  Mr.  J.  G.  Baker,  F.R.S.,  of  the  Kew  Herbarium,  who  is  so  well 
known  as  an  authority  on  the  genus.  He  refers  the  plant  without 
hesitation  to  Aloe  chinensis,  Baker. 
This  species  is  figured  and  described  in  the  Botanical  Magazine, 
p.  630.  The  occurrence  of  a  Chinese  (?)  species  as  a  cultivated 
plant  in  the  Dutch  colony  of  Curacoa  seems  so  unexpected  an 
occurrence  that  it  seems  desirable  to  quote  from  Mr.  Baker's  descrip- 
tion of  the  plant  in  the  Botanical  Magazine. 
"  Native  country  unknown.  Trusting  to  a  large  extent  to  garden 
tradition  we  venture  to  identify  the  present  plant  with  an  aloe  which 
was  introduced  from  China  by  Mr.  W.  Anderson  in  1 817,  and  which 
was  briefly  described  by  Haworth  from  flowerless  specimens  in  his 
1  From  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Transactions,  Sept.  13,  1890,  p.  205. 
