5 1 0  Curacoa  A  loes.  { Am  o"cT,rimftrm' 
The  leaves  have  a  purplish  color  (due  to  the  action  of  the  spirit 
employed  to  preserve  them  ?).  The  anthers  (but  not  the  filaments) 
are  exserted.  Each  of  the  segments  of  the  perianth  have  three  pur- 
plish lines  extending  from  base  to  apex.  The  three  outer  segments 
are  somewhat  acute,  and  the  inner  distinctly  obtuse.  The  color  of 
the  leaves  and  the  apex  of  the  perianth  segments  are  not,  how- 
ever, alluded  to  in  Mr.  Baker's  description. 
The  aloes  of  the  Arabian  coast  imperfectly  described  by  Forskal 
in  1775  have  apparently  never  been  refound,  and  the  distribution  of 
those  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa  is  not  accurately  known,  so  that  if 
due  allowance  be  made  for  the  changes  that  are  apt  to  take  place  in 
the  position  of  labels  in  even  the  best  regulated  gardens,  A.  chinen- 
sis  may  quite  possibly  be  found  to  be  a  native  of  the  coast _6f 
Africa,  Arabia  or  India. 
Probably  several  species  afford  the  aloes  which  find  their  way  to 
Bombay  and  Aden,3  and  varieties  of  a  species  nearly  allied  to 
A.  vera  are  probably  used  for  this  purpose.  This  opportunity  may 
therefore  be  taken  to  express  the  hope  that  Indian  botanists  will 
endeavor  to  clear  up  the  mystery  which  still  surrounds  the  botani- 
cal source  of  the  aloes  produced  on  the  shores  of  N.E.  Africa, 
Arabia  and  India.  At  the  present  time  there  is  an  aloe  enter- 
ing British  commerce  under  the  name  of  Socotrine  aloes,  and 
apparently  imported  from  Zanzibar,  which  has  an  odor  resem- 
bling that  of  Barbadoes  aloes,  and  like  it  gives  a  crimson  color 
with  nitric  acid,  but  of  the  geographical  and  botanical  source  of 
which  nothing  is  accurately  known. 
The  species  already  described  in  Baker's  monograph  as  occurring 
in  the  regions  above  mentioned  are  :  A.  Schimperi,  Todaro,  p.  159, 
A.  macrocarpa,  Todaro,  A.  commutata,  Todaro,  A.  Abyssinica,  Lam., 
all  from  Abyssinia ;  A.  crassipes,  Baker,  between  Suakin  and  Ber- 
ber ;  A.  constricta,  Baker,  S.E.  Tropical  Africa,  and  A.  tenuifolia, 
Lam.,  near  Zanzibar.  But,  with  the  exception  of  A.  Abyssinica,  I 
am  not  aware  that  any  of  these  species  have  been  stated  to  yield 
commercial  aloes. 
An  ointment  for  chapped  hands  is  recommended  in  Provincial  Med. 
Jour.,  consisting  of  menthol  15  gr.,  salol  30  gr.,  olive  oil  y2  drachm,  and  lano- 
lin 1  Yz  oz.    It  is  said  to  alleviate  the  pain  on  the  first  application. 
3  Pharm.  Journ.,  [3],  xi,  p.  733,  "  Jaferabad  Aloes,"  ibid.,  p.  121,  "  Musam- 
bra  Aloes." 
