34 
A  few  Notes  on  Aloes, 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t    Jan.  2, 1871. 
The  malt  can  be  obtained  at  the  malt-houses  or  breweries,  by  the 
bushel ;  reduce  it  by  means  of  the  drug  mill  so  that  it  will  pass 
through  a  No.  20  sieve,  and  add  to  the  meal  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
cold  water  to  form  with  it  a  soft  dough ;  then  add  about  two  gallons 
of  hot  water,  and  apply  heat  so  as  to  raise  the  temperature  of  the 
mixture  to  150°,  or  not  to  exceed  158°.  Maintain  this  temperature, 
with  occasional  stirring,  for  several  hours,  or  until  the  whole  of  the 
starch  is  converted  (by  means  of  the  diastase  of  the  malt)  into  dex- 
trine and  glucose.  The  absence  of  starch  can  be  ascertained  by  the 
application  of  Tr.  Iodine  to  a  small  quantity  of  the  liquor,  when,  if 
the  starch  has  been  wholly  converted,  no  blue  coloration  will  be  evi- 
dent. Then  express  the  liquor  rapidly,  and  pass  it  through  a 
strainer.  This  is  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  process,  as  it  speedily 
clogs  the  strainer  ;  this  can  be  averted  to  some  extent,  by  making  a 
pulp  by  means  of  water,  from  common  unsized  paper,  or  filtering  pa- 
per, and  mixing  this  pulp  Avith  the  expressed  liquid,  previous  to  strain- 
ing. The  perfectly  clear  fluid  is  finally  to  be  evaporated,  by  means 
of  a  water  bath,  to  the  consistence  of  a  thick  syrup,  having  the  sp. 
gr.  1.500,  or  approximately  one  pint,  weighing  IJ  lbs.,  av. 
This  extract  has  an  agreeably,  syrupy,  taste,  and  contains,  besides 
the  sugar  of  the  malt,  dextrine,  albumen,  and  the  phosphates  of  the 
grain.  In  very  hot  summer  v/eather  it  is  liable  to  go  into  fermenta- 
tion, but  this  can  be  prevented  by  the  addition  of  a  small  quantity 
of  glycerin. —  The  Pharmacist^  Chicago,  Nov.^  1870. 
A  FEW  NOTES  ON  ALOES. 
By  William  A.  Tilden,  B.Sc.  Lond.,  F.  C.  S., 
Demonstrator  of  Practical  Chemistry  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 
In  the  list  of  subjects  for  investigation  issued  to  the  members  of 
the  Conference  is  the  following  question.  No.  176  : — "  Compound 
Decoction  of  Aloes  loses  bitterness  after  some  time  ;  to  what  is  this 
due? 
Before  attempting  to  answer  this  question,  a  few  points  in  the  chem- 
istry of  aloes  require  notice. 
In  the  last  edition  of  Pereira's  '  Materia  Medica'  four  proximate 
principles  are  enumerated  as  forming  the  most  important  constituents 
of  aloes. 
1.  Aloetin,  aloesin,  amorphous  aloin,  bitter  principle  of  aloes. 
