Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Aloe
ALOE is a beautiful exotic plant, the flowers of which grow in umbels on the tops of the stalks, are of an elegant red colour, and appear in the months of August and September. It consists of ten species, all of which are propagated either by off-sets, or by planting the leaves. The proper earth for this vegetable, is one half of garden-mould, or fresh earth dug from a common; the other half consists of an equal proportion of white sea-sand, and sifted lime-rubbish. This mixture should be made, at least, six or eight months previous to its use. The common aloe will live in a dry green-house in winter, and in summer may be placed under shelter, in the open air; but should have very little water, and none on the stem of the plant: the other species require to be kept in an airy green-house, in which there is a stove to make a fire in cold weather.
Among the Mahometans, and especially in Egypt, the aloe is held in high estimation, and even dedicated to religious offices. These superstitious people believe, that it prevents evil spirits from entering their houses: for this purpose, both Christians and Jews place it over their doors; and whoever returns from a pilgrimage, exhibits it as an emblem of his having performed that holy journey.
Its properties are various; and applied to numerous purposes, both medicinal and domestic. The leaves of the Guinea-aloe, as described by M. Adamson, in his voyage to Senegal, are employed in making very good ropes, not liable to rot in the water.
Dr. Sloane describes two sorts of aloe, one of which is used for fishing lines, bow-strings, stockings, and hammocks: the other produces leaves capable of holding rain-water.
In Mexico, there is a species of aloe called the Maguei, which is applied to almost every purpose of life. Besides making excellent hedges and inclosures for their farms, its trunk serves as beams for the roofs of their houses, and its leaves instead of tiles. From this plant, the natives make their paper, thread, needles, and various articles of clothing, and cordage; while, from its copious juice, they extract wine, honey, sugar and vinegar. Of the trunk, and thickest part of the leaves, when baked, they prepare an excellent dish. It is likewise employed by them in several diseases, but especially in those of the urinary passages.
In this country, aloe is principally known as a medicine in the form of an inspissated juice, which consists of three sorts: 1. the Aloe perfoliata, or Socotrine Aloe; 2. the Hepatica, Barbadoes, or Common; and 3. the Caballina, fetid or Horse Aloe. The first of these is the purest, and is brought from the island of Socotora, wrapt in skins. It is of a glossy surface, and in some degree pellucid, of a yellowish-red colour, with a purple cast, and when reduced to powder, of a bright golden shade. In winter, it is hard and friable, but in summer pliable, and grows soft, when pressed between the fingers. Its taste is bitter, accompanied with an aromatic flavour; the smell is not unpleasant, and slightly resembles that of myrrh.
Aloe is considered as a good opening medicine for persons of a lax habit, and those whose stomach and bowels are loaded with phlegm or mucus, and also for worms; because, while it carries off viscid humours, it serves by its stimulating qualities to strengthen and brace the system. When given in small doses of a few grains, repeated at intervals, it not only cleanses the alimentary canal, but tends also to promote the menstrual discharge in women: hence its use in the green sickness, and all female obstructions. We must, however, observe, that, though it be a good stomachic laxative, it ought to be employed with great precaution, being an acrid and heating medicine, and therefore not proper in bilious complaints, or in a febrile state of the body. Its continued use sometimes produces the piles and habitual costiveness. When given in substance, without any mixture, it frequently adheres to the coats of the intestines, where it occasions griping, and uneasiness: for which reasons, and in order to destroy its viscid properties, it should be previously combined with some saponaceous or resolvent medicine, such as a small quantity of alkaline salts, the yolk of an egg, Castile soap, or mucilaginous vegetable extracts.
We have purposely given a more minute account of the medicinal effects of this plant, than the limits of our work will admit, on similar occasions: this exception, however, has not been made with a view to encourage the sale of those aloetic preparations, so generally known and vended, under the name of "Anderson's Pills;" which, like most patent and quack medicines, have unquestionably contributed to increase the number of patients among those credulous victims, who are frequently obliged to seek relief in public dispensaries and hospitals. Convinced of the mischievous tendency thence resulting to the community, we devoutly hope that the wisdom of the legislature will, at length, be effectually directed to the suppression of those destructive practices, the pretended success of which, we almost blush to say, is exultingly related in our daily prints!
With respect to the economical purposes to which the aloe may be rendered subservient, we shall in this place relate only the principal.
It is asserted by an anonymous writer, in the Gentleman's Mag. for July 1754, that a varnish made of the extract of the hepatic aloe, turpentine, tallow, and white lead, or Spanish brown, when applied to the bottoms of ships, is the most effectual means of preserving them from the sea-worm: the discoverer remarks, that a plank covered with this mixture, was sunk with a proper weight and ropes; together with another in an unprepared state, both in an equal depth of salt-water, where the worm abounded; and, upon raising them, after they had remained there from five to eight months, the former was perfectly sound and untouched, while the latter was eaten to a honey-comb. This hint was adopted by a gentleman at Bermudas, who observed the inhabitants employ a few sliced leaves of the plants, from which the hepatic aloe is extracted, in addition to the oil and tallow, which are boiled together, and used in careening their fishing-boats.
Another valuable property of the horse-aloe, beside its being an excellent purgative for horses, is its bitter principle, which renders it eminently useful in watery solutions, not only for preserving tender plants from the depredations of vermin and insects, but likewise for preventing putrefaction in certain vegetable and animal bodies, such as dried plants, stuffed birds, quadrupeds, &c. Proper care, however, should be taken, that solutions or mixtures made with aloe be not exposed to be swallowed by dogs, cats, or other domestic animals, as to them the consequences would be fatal.
Several species of this useful plant have also been employed for manufacturing a cloth, resembling linen in its texture, and paper of various quality. Clusius made shirts of it at Madrid, and Bourgoing, in his travels through Spain, informs us, that the natives of that country manufacture their horse-bridles from the filaments of aloe-leaves. Minasi, an Italian, produced from similar materials, different kinds of coarse and fine paper.
Lastly, we find, in the "Experiments and Observations" published by Poerner, a creditable German writer, in 1772, that a watery decoction, made of the resinous gum of the aloe, without any farther addition, produces a beautiful dark cherry-brown colour on woollen-cloth, by simple immersion. This fact may be easily ascertained by dyers.