42 



GOSSYPIUM BARB A DENSE, Linn. 



Cotton. 



Native probably of W. Indies and tropical America. The mummy 

 cloths of Peru are cotton, of Egypt linen. 



A small shrub, with lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and seeds covered 

 with long, white hairs. (Malvacce.) 



Bark of root used as an emmenagogue, also in dysmenorrhea. 



Seeds yield oil, which is used for various purposes, and sometimes 

 as a substitute for olive oil. 



The cake, left after the expression, is given to cattle. 



A decoction of the seeds is a remedy in intermittents. 



Hairs from the seeds constitute commercial cotton, one of the most 

 important fibrous materials. 



Cotton consists of nearly pure cellulose, which has the same chemical 

 formula as starch. By the action of nitric and sulphuric acids, it ia 

 converted into the explosive substance Gun Ootton, known in the Phar- 

 macopoeia as Pyroxylin. This dissolved in a mixture of ether and rec- 

 tified spirit, gives Collodion. Flexible Collodion is made by adding a 

 small quantity of Canada Balsam and Castor oil to collodion. Collo- 

 dion is used to apply to wounds, skin diseases, &e. ; the ether evapo- 

 rates, leaving a thin film. 



GROUND NUT. See Arachis hypogjsa. 



GOUANIA DOMINGENSIS. Linn. 

 Chew Stick. 



Native of West Indies and tropical South America. 



A shrubby climber, with tendrils ; leaves simple ; flowers small, 

 yellowish, in clusters; seed-vessel 3-winged. Rhamnecs.) 



This is a very agreeable bitter. It is used as a substitute for hops 

 in ginger beer, and cool drinks. 



The infusion has been employed in gonorrhoea and dropsy, and as a 

 light grateful bitter, in cases of debility, to restore the tone of the 

 stomach. 



In powder, it forms an excellent dentifrice ; its aromatic bitter pro- 

 ducing a healthy state of the gums, and the mucilage it contains work- 

 ing up by the brush into a kind of soap-like froth. A tincture also is 

 prepared from it, diluted with water, as a wash or gargle, in cases of 

 salivation or disease of the gums. Chew-stick is also a substitute for 

 the tooth-brush itself. A piece of a branch, about as thick as the little 

 linger, is softened by chewing, and then rubbed against the teeth. In 

 Miis manner a tooth-brush, and, with it, a powder are obtained, equal, 

 if not superior, to any in use in Europe. (Macfadyen.) 



GOURD, BOTTLE. See Lagknama vulgaris. 



'iRANADILLA. See Passifloka ouadrangi laris. 



