Am.  Jour.  Pharm.") 
May,  1903.  j 
Commercial  Aloes. 
209 
Mr.  Freeman  says :  "The  aloe  flowers  in  the  early  part  of  the  year, 
and  when  the  flowers  have  died  and  the  stalks  have  withered,  reaping 
may  commence.  The  leaves  of  a  plant  are  cut  off  right  through 
the  plant  about  6  inches  above  the  base,  and  the  dripping  ends 
placed  in  wooden  V-shaped  troughs,  from  which  the  juice  flows  to 
the  collecting  vessel  placed  under  an  aperture  in  the  trough.  The 
exuded  juice  is  then  taken  to  the  boiling-house,  where  the  concen- 
trating takes  place  in  copper  pans  heated  by  direct  heat.  As  the 
boiling  point  is  reached,  stirring  is  necessary  to  prevent  charring  ;  on 
continued  boiling  the  liquid  thickens  and  becomes  darker  in  color. 
The  operator  determines  the  proper  consistency  of  the  residual 
mass  by  the  appearance  of  the  bubbles  that  appear  on  the  surface 
of  the  thick  juice.  When  these  bubbles  are  large  and  glossy,  and  a 
film  of  the  removed  liquid  dries  almost  at  once,  the  proper  degree 
of  concentration  has  been  reached,  and  the  thick  viscid  aloes  while 
still  hot  is  poured  into  gourds  holding  from  20  to  60  or  70  pounds." 
Despite  the  fact  that  no  appreciable  quantity  of  aloes  has  been 
exported  from  Barbadoes  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  the  name  itself, 
like  the  corresponding  name  of  Socotrine  aloes,  has  been  firmly 
established  and  is  generally  used  to  designate  a  variety  of  aloes 
more  or  less  closely  corresponding  to  what  had  formerly  been  sold 
as  Barbadoes  aloes. 
There  has  been  considerable  diversity  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the 
actual  disappearance  of  true  Barbadoes  aloes  from  the  American 
market.  Several  American  drug  firms  have  inquired  closely  into 
the  availability  of  Barbadoes  aloes,  and  all  reported  that  no  true 
Barbadoes  aloes  was  available  at  the  present  time.  The  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  September  6,  1902,  in  its  report  of  the  drug  market,  in- 
cludes seven  small  tins  of  Barbadoes  aloes  that  sold  at  auction  for 
295.  per  cwt.  This  report  appeared  at  variance  with  the  generally 
accepted  ideas,  and  also  with  the  report  of  Mr.  W.  G.  Freeman,30 
quoted  above. 
To  get  some  definite  information  on  the  subject,  a  personal  letter 
was  addressed  to  the  present  U.  S.  Consul,  Mr.  S.  A.  Macallister,  of 
Barbadoes,  asking  for  information  in  connection  with  the  present 
status  of  the  aloe  industry  on  the  island. 
Consul  Macallister,  under  date  of  October  31,  1902,  writes: 
"Aloes  have  not  been  cultivated  in  Barbadoes  for  some  years  past, 
nor  has  any  been  exported  to  my  knowledge."    He  further  states 
