also a fluid extract of bark ; it appears to have first attracted attention from being used by the female negroes to produce abortion. It acts like ergot upon the uterus, and is useful in dysmenorrhœa and suppression of the menses when produced by cold. A decoction of 4 ozs of the bark in 2 pints of water, boiled down to one pint, may be used in doses of 2 ounces every 20 or 30 minutes, or the fluid extract may be prescribed in doses of from 30 to 60 minims. Cotton-seed tea is given in dysentery in America ; the seeds are also reputed to be galactagogue (Dymock).
Compared with ergot, the root of the cotton-plant causes a more natural contraction of the uterus ; but the former drug appears to be the more active during parturition. Gossypium can be given with impunity. In gynæcological practice ergot cannot compare with gossypium, the rapidity of action is not so necessary, and the remedy can be given without any unpleasant secondary or after-effects, as is frequently complained of during a prolonged course of ergot subcutaneously or per- os" (I. M. G., November, 1884. pp. 334-5).
The herbaceous part of Gossypium herbaccum contains much mucilage, and is used as a demulcent.
Cotton-seeds have been employed in the Southern States of America with great asserted success in the treatment of intermittents. A pint of the seeds is boiled in a quart of water to a pint, and a teacupful of the decoction is given to the patient in bed, an hour or two before the expected return of the chill. (U. S. Dispensatory).
The seeds are considered a nervine tonic and are given in headache, etc.
Cotton-seed is said to increase the secretion of milk, and cotton-seed oil is largely utilized for this reason in the feeding of cows. The reason of this physiological action, and the constituent of the seed which produces it, are not known. In order to apply this to women, attempts have been made to purify the seeds, and a preparation, bearing the name of lactagol, has been the outcome of these investigations. It is a fine white powder, having a not
