Aloe Socotrina

Bitter aloe, a plant of the lily family, which

furnishes the finest aloes. The bitter, resinous juice is stored

up in greenish vessels, lying beneath the skin of the leaf, so

that when the leaves are cut transversely, the juice exudes, and

is gradually evaporated to a firm consistence. The inferior kinds

of aloes are prepared by pressing the leaves, when the resinous

juice becomes mixed with the mucilaginous fluid from the central

part of the leaves, and thus it is proportionately deteriorated.

Sometimes the leaves are cut and boiled, and the decoction

evaporated to a proper consistence. This drug is imported in

chests, in skins of animals, and sometimes in large

calabash-gourds, and although the taste is peculiarly bitter and

disagreeable, the perfume of the finer sorts is aromatic, and by

no means offensive. It is common in tropical countries.