ore than that of hemp.

The drug is imported into this country under the names of Socotrine,
East Indian or Hepatic, Barbados, Cape and Caballine aloes. It
contains a substance called Aloetine, which some regard as its active
principle. The various species now defined are--_Aloe spicata_,
_vulgaris_, _Socotrina_, _Indica_, _rubescens_, _Arabica_,
_linguae-formis_ and _Commelina_. The average imports in 1841 and 1842
were only about 170,780 cwts.; it is now much larger, and a great
portion of the supply is drawn from the Cape colony.

The mode of preparing the drug, which I have myself seen in the West
Indies, is exceedingly simple. When the plant has arrived at proper
maturity, the laborers go into the field with tubs and knives, and cut
the largest and most succulent leaves close to the stalk; these are
placed upright in the tubs, side by side, so that the sap may flow out
of the wound. Sometimes a longitudinal incision is made from top to
bottom of the leaf, to facilitate the discharge. The crude juice thus
obtained is placed in shallow flat-bottomed receivers, and exposed to
the sun until it has acquired sufficient consistency to be packed in
gourds for exportation. In preparing the coarser kind, or horse aloes,
the leaves are cut into junks and thrown into the tubs, there to lie
till the juice is pretty well drained out; they are then squeezed by
the hand, and water, in the proportion of one quart to ten of juice,
is added, after which it is boiled to a due consistence and emptied
into large shallow coolers.

The following analysis by M. Edmond Robiquet of a specimen of
Socotrine aloes, obtained from M. Chevallier, is given in the sixth
volume of the "Pharmaceutical Journal," p. 277. The constituents in
100 parts were:--

Pure aloes (Aloetine) 85.00
Ulmate of potash 2.00
Sulphate of lime 2.00
Carbonate of potash }
-------------lime } traces.
Phosphate of lime }
Gallic acid .25
Albumen 8.

The true Socotrine aloes is the produce of _A. Socotrina_, which grows
abundantly in the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean. Lieutenant
Wellstead says, the hills on the west side of the island are covered
for an extent of miles with aloe plants. The aloe grows spontaneously
on the limestone mountains of Socotra, from 500 to 3,000 feet above
the level of the sea. The produce is brough