156 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



to the Pharmacology of Cotton Root Bark," by Charles 

 R. Eckler, M.S., devotes much research to gossypium. 

 The results conflict with the opinions of physicians 

 using the drug in clinical practice. 



Cotton fiber and root bark are obtained from one or 

 more cultivated species of Gossypium herbaceum. 



GRAN AT UM (Pomegranate) 



Granatum has an interesting history. The earliest U. S. P., 

 1820, mentions it. but in the Secondary List, the part used being 

 designated as "Cortex fructus. The rind of the fruit." The 

 Philadelphia edition of 1830 transfers the drug to the Primary 

 List, but retains the description of Granatum as "The rind of the 

 fruit." In the New York edition of 1830 we find the first mention 

 of the use of "Granati Cortex, Pomegranate Bark," which alone is 

 recognized. From 1840 to 1870, both Pomegranate Rind and the 

 Bark of the root are official. The 1880 U. S. P. limits Granatum 

 to "The bark of the root," while all later editions admit the bark 

 of both stems and roots. 



Punica Granatum has been in cultivation from the 

 earliest historical tunes. It is now found in all warm 

 countries of the world, and as an ornamental plant is 

 frequently cultivated in this country, where it requires 

 protection during the winter season, as it will not endure 

 the cold. It is recorded that in 1838 the pomegranate 

 trees in the neighborhood of London were killed by the 

 frost. The form of pomegranate generally grown as 

 ornament is the double variety, which is consequently 

 barren. The fruit has been esteemed a delicacy from 

 the most ancient time, and is often offered for sale at 

 our fruit stands. In the West Indies, where the plant 

 would thrive naturally, it is not extensively cultivated, 

 and a writer on botanical history, (C. G. Lloyd), who 

 has visited all these islands, does not remember to have 

 seen it or its fruit wild. Like all cultivated plants it is 

 liable to variation, and several of its forms have been 



