ALOES

The inspi ated juice or extract of several species of aloe. This article is largely imported for medical use from Bombay. It is of a brown colour, a peculiar and somewhat aromatic odour, and a nauseous and intensely bitter flavour: it consists of extractive and resin, and is nearly soluble in boiling water, but the solution as it cools deposits flakes of resin. The best aloes was formerly brought from the island of Socotorah, in the Indian Sea, and hence all the finer aloes of commerce is frequently teriped Socotorine aloes. Another variety of this drug comes from Barb a does, in large gourd shells containing upwards of half a hundred weight each; it is deep coloured, opaque, and has a nauseous and peculiar odour, especially when breathed upon. Aloes is a warm stimulating purgative, operating as such in the dose of four to eight grains. It stimulates the large intestines, and should be administered with caution in habits where there is tendency to piles, and in cases in females in which uterine stimulants are improper. ALONSINE, or [s. 47]