206 
Commercial  Aloes. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May.  1903. 
glossy  appearance,  and  varies  from  a  grayish-yellow  to  red  in  color. 
In  thin  layers  it  is  transparent  and  gives  a  light  yellow  powder. 
Very  little  or  none  of  this  true  Socotrine  aloes  comes  into  the 
Western  markets.  This  latter  opinion  is  corroborated  by  every 
writer  that  has  ever  investigated  the  probable  source  of  Socotrine 
aloes.  Lloyd7  gives  several  references  that  bear  out  this  statement* 
Squibb21  says  that  the  aloes  which  reaches  this  market  from  the 
shipping  ports  Bombay,  Muscat,  Aden  and  Zanzibar  are  all  classed 
as  Socotrine  aloes,  irrespective  of  their  botanic  or  geographic  origin 
or  source.  Dohme,22  in  referring  to  this  same  statement,  says  that 
the  soft,  dark  and  malodorous  variety  occasionally  sold  as  Socotrine 
aloes  is  known  as  Mocha  aloes  in  the  East,  and  comes  from  the 
interior  of  Southern  Arabia. 
Dr.  E.  R.  Squibb,21  in  speaking  of  the  method  of  preparing  Soco- 
trine aloes,  says:  "An  incidental  disadvantage  of  the  Eastern  method 
of  inspissating  aloe  juice  is  the  fact  that  the  aloes  always  contains  a 
much  larger  percentage  of  foreign  matter,  such  as  sand,  shreds  of 
aloe  plants,  splinters  of  various  kinds  and  sizes,  nails,  bits  of  leather, 
and  even  the  rude  implements  used  for  cutting  the  leaves." 
A  method  of  purifying  Socotrine  aloes  was  introduced  into  the 
United  States  Pharmacopoeia  in  i860, and  has  been  retained  through 
three  revisions.  According  to  Dr.  Squibb,  who  was  instrumental  in 
introducing  "  purified  aloes,"  the  loss  in  purifying  and  powdering 
Socotrine  aloes  varies  from  7  to  22  per  cent. 
CAPE  ALOES. 
Aloes  has  been  produced  in  Cape  Colony  since  1773  and  has  been 
an  important  article  of  commerce  ever  since.  Cape  aloes  is  recog- 
nized in  nearly  all  of  the  European  Pharmacopeeias;  it  was  dropped 
from  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States  in  1880,  but  is  still 
used  in  this  country  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  being  preferred 
by  many  medical  practitioners,  particularly  those  of  German  or 
European  training,  on  account  of  its  more  reliable,  but  milder 
action.20  Genuine  Cape  aloes,  as  usually  seen,  has  a  glossy,  trans- 
lucent appearance ;  black  in  reflected  light,  reddish  to  yellowish- 
brown  in  transmitted  light.  It  is  brittle  when  dry,  and  can  be 
easily  powdered,  giving  a  yellowish-green  or  yellowish-brown  pow- 
der, the  latter  usually  having  a  decidedly  greenish  tinge. 
According  to  the  German  Pharmacopoeia,24  "  aloes  should  be 
