38 
A  few  Notes  on  Aloes. 
5  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     Jan.  2, 1871. 
entirely  lost  its  bitter  taste.  Nitrate  of  barium  was  added  to  remove 
the  carbonate,  and  the  filtered  liquid  mixed  with  acetate  of  lead.  The 
result  was  a  dirty  greenish  precipitate,  which  was  removed  and  basic 
acetate  of  lead  added.  This  gave  a  bright  orange  precipitate,  which 
was  collected  and  analysed.  Its  composition,  compared  with  that  of 
aloin,  is  shown  by  the  subjoined  numbers  : — 
(Ste^We).  "^^"^^  Precipitate. 
C         60-67  C  14-30 
H   5-65  H   1-40 
0         33-68  0. . .  .  25-71 
—  ■  Pb   .  .  58-59 
100-00   
100-00 
From  which  it  appears  that  whilst  in  aloin  the  carbon  stands  .to  the 
oxygen  nearly  as  1  to  in  the  oxidized  substance  it  is,  roughly  speak- 
ing, in  the  proportion  of  1  to  2. 
Some  extract  of  Socotrine  aloes  was  boiled  with  carbonate  of  potash 
and  water,  in  the  proportion  directed  for  the  preparation  of  compound 
decoction  of  aloes,  the  remaining  ingredients  being  omitted.  Keeping 
this  solution  in  the  way  described,  it  also  became  tasteless  and  gave 
the  same  reactions. 
Mr.  William  Young,  pharmaceutical  chemist,  proposed  the  question 
which  stands  in  the  Conference  list,  and  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  the 
specimens  upon  the  table,  and  also  for  his  permission  to  quote  from  a 
letter  with  vt  hich  he  has  favored  me. 
He  says,  "  For  more  than  ten  years  I  have  observed  that  decoct, 
aloes  CO.  loses  its  bitterness  on  keeping,  but  I  cannot  say  that  it  loses 
its  aperient  property.  I  have  frequently  taken  a  fluid  ounce  of  vari- 
ous degrees  of  bitterness,  and  have  always  found  it  produce  the  de- 
sired effect.  But  this  is  a  matter  which  does  not  affect  the  pharma- 
ceutist so  much  as  the  fact  that  the  public  cannot  be  persuaded  that  a 
medicine  which  is  not  uniform  in  taste  is  rightly  prepared.  I  venture 
to  assert  that  if  a  customer  were  to  purchase  successively  at  one 
establishment  four  ounces  of  decoct,  aloes  co.  weekly,  and  each  sample 
being  a  week  older  than  the  one  immediately  preceding,  no  two  sam- 
ples would  be  alike.  Of  course  if,  as  I  understand  is  the  custom  in 
some  large  establishments,  a  large  quantity  is  prepared  and  kept  some 
weeks  before  use,  a  greater  uniformity  would  be  arrived  at ;  but  that 
puts  the  small  tradesman  at  a  great  disadvantage,  who  perhaps  pre- 
