208 
Commercial  Aloes. 
r  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I       May,  1903. 
is  baled  out  and  subsequently  carried  to  the  place  where  it  is  evap- 
orated. 
The  evaporation  is  usually  done  over  an  open  fire  and  is  both 
difficult  and  disagreeable,  the  escaping  steam  is  saturated  with  irri- 
tating fumes  that  attack  the  operator,  particularly  his  eyes  and  the 
mucous  membranes  of  his  nose,  mouth  and  throat.  Considerable 
care  is  necessary  to  avoid  burning  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  evap- 
orate the  juice  sufficiently  on  the  other  so  as  to  have  it  set  hard  and 
solid  when  poured  into  the  case  or  box. 
New  methods  are,  however,  being  introduced,  and  much  of  the 
fresh  juice  is  now  being  sold  by  the  gatherers  to  manufacturers  who 
evaporate  the  juice  by  improved  methods.  Among  these,  the  use 
of  steam  heat  is  said  to  insure  a  more  uniform  product.  Another 
innovation  that  is  being  introduced  in  South  Africa  is  the  spontane- 
ous evaporation  of  the  partially  fermented  and  clarified  juice  ;  this 
method  furnishes  an  aloes  that  is  characteristic  in  many  respects 
and  is  being  marketed  as  a  distinct  variety. 
BARBADOES  ALOES. 
Barbadoes  aloes  was  first  brought  to  the  London  market  about 
1693.  It  does  not,  however,  appear  to  have  become  a  regular 
article  of  commerce  until  nearly  half  a  century  later.  The  American 
Gazetteer11  (1804)  enumerates  aloes  as  one  of  the  minor  productions 
of  the  island  of  Barbadoes.  Sir  R.  H.  Shomburgk,25  quoted  by 
Pereira,6  gives  extensive  statistics  of  the  exports  of  aloes  from  the 
Island  of  Barbadoes.  These  statistics  cover  a  period  of  more  than 
100  years;  the  figures  given  vary  from  an  average  of  327  gourds  in 
1745  to  upwards  of  4,227  gourds  in  1843. 
This  probably  represents  the  maximum  development  of  the  aloe 
industry  in  Barbadoes,  as  the  figures  for  1844  and  1845  show  a  con- 
siderable diminution. 
A  writer  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Chemist  and  Druggist-  in 
speaking  of  Barbadoes  aloes,  says  :  "  The  aloe  industry  has  gradually 
diminished  from  1852  to  the  present  time,  when  a  cultivated  patch 
of  not  more  than  half  an  acre  in  extent  is  all  that  is  left  of  this  once 
flourishing  industry." 
The  method  of  gathering  the  juice  in  Barbadoes  differed  materi- 
ally from  that  followed  in  Africa.  It  is  given  in  detail  in  an  article 
by  Mr.  W.  G.  Freeman,  quoted  by  the  Chemist  and  Druggist. 
