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Show 546 SOCOTRINE ALOES. 3. Faetip, Capacuine, or Horse Ators. This sort is easily distinguished from both the foregoing byits strong rank smell : although, in other respects, it agrees ee much with the hepatic, and is not unfrequently soldin oo ve : Sometimes the caballine aloes is prepared so pure and bri i as not to bedistinguishable by the eye even groin te Slave but its offensive smell, of which it cannot be divested, cede betrays it. It is now excluded frem thelist of alee all modern he pharmacopaiias, and is employed solely by Lape ~ From sixteen ounces of aloes Neumann extracted near Pi by means of alcohol. From the residuum al took peas drachm, about an ounceof impurities being left; on mares the procedure and applying water first, he gheeyee but eerals, ounces and a half of watery extract, and from the cee : - cohol dissolved an ounce and a half. According to this pipet hah 1000 parts of aloes contain about 78 soluble in water only, analogous to gum, 980 soluble in alcohol only, or ponbaees 2 895 soluble both in alcohol, and in water or extractive. hl constituent principles of aloes therefore appear -” be resin i extractive. Dr. Lewis also remarks, that decoctions olgslocs: . fall a precipitate, as they cool, probably from extractive peng more soluble in boiling than in cold water. He also proved Ne hepatic aloes to contain more resin andless extractive than se socotrine, and this less than the caballine. The resins of i the sorts, purified byalcohol, have little smell ; that obtainea uch the socotrine has scarce any perceptible taste; that of Ue Se tic, a slight bitterish relish ; and the resin of the caballine, a little more of the aloetic flavour. The extractive obtained se- parately from anyof the kinds, is less disagreeable than the a aloes: the extractive of socotrine aloes has verylittle smell, an¢ is in taste not unpleasant: that of the hepatic has a sone stronger smell, but is rather more agreeable in taste than the ex- tract of the socotrine: the extractive of caballine retains a con- siderable share of the peculiar rank smell of this sort of aloes, but its taste is not much more unpleasant than that of the extractive obtained from the twoother sorts. MEDICAL USE. Aloes is a bitter stimulating purgative, exerting its action Pinas it em yties chiefly on the rectum. In doses of from 4 to 6 grains it . I . . . . . the large intestines, without making thestoolsslpried thin 2; andliikewise SOCOTRINE ALOES. SAT warms the habit, quickens the circulation, and promotes the uterine and hemorrhoidal fluxes. If given in so large a dose as to purge effectually, it often occasions an irritation about the anus, and sometimes a discharge of blood. It is frequently employed in cases of suppressio of n the menses, or of the hemorrhoidal discharge: Dut it is parti cularly service. able in habitual costiveness, to persons of a phlegmatic tempera- ment andsedentary life, and where the stomach is oppre ssed and weakened. It has, however, a tendency to induc e and augment hemorrhoidal affections ; aud with those whoare liable to such complaints, it should be avoided. In dry bilious habits aloes proves injurious, immoderately heating the bedy, andinflaming the bowels. Some are of opinion, that the purgative virtue of aloes resides entirely in its resin ; but experience has shown, that the pureresin has little or no pu rgative quality, and that the extractive part se. parated from the resinous, acts mere powerfully than the crude aloes. If the aloes indeed be made to undergo long coction in the preparation of the gummy extract, its cathartic power will be considerably lessened, not from the separation of the resin, but from analteration madein the extractive itself by the action of the heat and air. The strongest vegetable cathartics become mild by a similar treatment. Socotrine aloes, as already observed, contains moreextractive than the hepatic ; and hence is likewise found to purge more, and with greater irritation. ‘The first sort, therefo re, is most proper where astimulus is required, as for promoting or exciting the menstrualflux ; whilst the latteris better calculated to act as 4 commonpurge. PREPARATIONS. IPOWDER of ALors with CANELLA. Canella. L. D.) (Pulvis Aloes cum Take of socotrine aloes, (Hepatic aloes, D.) one pound; —— white canella, three ounces: I’owder them Separately, and then mix them. This was formerly well known by thetitle of Hiera Picra. The spicy canellaacts as a corrigent to the aloes, but the com- pound is more adapted to be formedinto pills, than to be used in thestate of powder. It is a convenient medicine for costive habits not Subject to thepiles. Dose 10 grains to a scrupleat bed.time, |