Commercial  Aloes.  269 
specimens,  obtained  through  reputable  houses,  illustrate  the  variety 
and  kinds  of  aloes  available  at  the  present  time : 
Labelled. 
Appearances. 
Color  of  Powder. 
Reaction  with 
Nitric  Acid. 
Socotrine 
Soft,  brown 
glossy  surface 
Greenish  brown 
Greenish  s^ellow 
Socotrine 
Reddish  brown 
Light  yellow 
Yellow 
Socotrine 
Dark  brown,  glossy 
Reddish  yellow 
Dark  yellow 
Barbadoes 
Dark  brown, 
dull  opaque 
Yellow 
Red 
Hepatic 
Dark  brown,  opaque 
Reddish  yellow 
Red 
Curacao 
Dark  brown,  glossy 
Reddish  yellow 
Red 
Curacao 
Brown,  opaque 
Reddish  yellow 
Red 
Curacao 
Dark  brown,  opaque 
Reddish  yellow 
Red 
Cape 
Black,  glossy 
Greenish  yellow 
Olive  to  brown 
Cape  (Capey  Curacao) 
Dark  brown,  glossy 
Reddish  yellow 
Red 
Cape 
Black,  glossy 
Greenish  yellow 
Greenish  yellow 
to  brown 
Uganda 
Reddish  brown 
Yellow 
Yellow  to  brown 
The  test  with  nitric  acid  was  made  by  taking  5  c.c  of  strong 
nitric  acid  in  a  porcelain  evaporating  dish  and  sprinkling  over  the 
top  of  this  0-05  of  the  finely  powdered  aloes.  This  was  considered 
to  be  a  more  satisfactory  way  of  demonstrating  the  resulting  color 
than  the  method  recommended  by  the  German  Pharmacopoeia  of 
pouring  a  quantity  of  nitric  acid  over  a  splinter  of  aloes. 
Very  little  or  no  difference  was  noted  in  the  results  of  Klunge's 
test  and  the  nitric  acid  test  for  iso-barb-aloin.  The  former  is  prob- 
ably more  sensitive,  while  the  latter  is  more  easily  applied. 
UNITED  STATES  TRADE  IN  ALOES. 
There  is  little  reliable  data  as  to  the  amount  of  aloes  annually 
produced  or  used.  Some  idea  of  the  money  values  may  be  had 
from  a  perusal  of  the  London  drug  market  reports,  but  even  these 
are  not  reliable  on  account  of  the  constant  changes  that  are  taking 
place  in  the  direction  of  trade. 
Cape  Aloes,  for  instance — this  in  former  years  was  sold  exclu- 
sively in  the  London  market,  but  is  now  largely  shipped  to  Ham- 
burg ; 53  much,  if  not  the  greater  portion,  of  true  Cape  aloes  being 
used  in  Germany. 
The  same  holds  true  of  the  Curacao  or  West  Indian  variety.  This, 
according  to  a  letter  from  Gehe  &  Co.,  is  now  largely  sold  through 
