Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1903. 
Commercial  Aloes. 
211 
Bonaire 
Aruba  . 
1898. 
4753 
257-518 
1899. 
22-474 
231-365 
27779 
373 '375 
with  practically  none  produced  on  the  island  of  Curacao  itself.* 
These  figures  are  also  verified  by  a  communication  received  from 
U.  S.  Consul  Elias  W.  Cheney,  at  Curacao,  in  answer  to  an  inquiry 
regarding  the  source  and  production  of  aloes  in  the  Dutch  West 
India  Islands. 
This  letter  of  inquiry  was  prompted  by  the  fact  that  at  the  present 
time  several  kinds  of  aloes  are  met  with  in  the  drug  trade,  all  pur- 
porting to  be  Curacao  aloes.    Of  these  we  may  mention  : 
(1)  Aloes  in  gourds  ;  this  is  of  the  so-called  livery  variety,  opaque, 
brittle,  crystalline  under  the  microscope  and  is  almost  invariably 
sold  as  Barbadoes  aloes. 
(2)  Aloes  in  cases,  livery  variety,  and  also  corresponding  in  other 
physical  properties  to  that  mentioned  above. 
(3)  Glossy  Curacao  aloes,  also  known  as  Capey  Curacao  aloes. 
This  also  comes  in  cases,  and  is  evidently  being  prepared  to  fill  a 
demand  for  glossy,  transparent  aloes,  particularly  from  European 
countries.  Gehe  &  Co.  report  that  this  variety  of  Curacao  aloes  has 
a  large  sale  in  European  countries,  outside  of  Germany.  Capey 
aloes  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  reports  of  the  London  drug 
markets  and  usually  commands  a  higher  price  than  does  the  ordi- 
nary or  livery  variety.  U.*S.  Consul  E.  W.  Cheney,  with  the  com- 
munication referred  to  above,  kindly  forwarded  a  statement  by  Mr. 
S.  C.  Heneigney  on  the  aloe  industry  of  the  Dutch  West  Indies. 
According  to  Mr.  Heneigney,  the  difference  in  appearance  is  due 
largely  to  the  amount  of  heat  applied  near  the  conclusion  of  the 
evaporation  process. 
"  For  the  livery  variety,  the  juice  is  not  evaporated  to  dryness, 
but  is  poured  into  gourds  or  boxes  while  still  soft ;  here  on  further 
evaporation  it  sets  and  becomes  hard ;  this  product  is  always 
opaque.  When  the  final  evaporation  is  done  over  the  fire  the 
resulting  aloes  is  glossy  and  more  or  less  transparent." 
This  same  feature,  the  possible  change  in  the  physical  properties 
of  aloes,  due  to  the  amount  of  heat  applied,  was  noted  by  Mr.  E. 
Robiquet  in  a  paper  quoted  in  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy 
for  1856.33  In  answer  to  a  question  on  the  methods  of  preparing  or 
evaporating  the  exuded  juice,  Mr.  Heneigney  says:  "  All  juices  are 
