108 LIN ACE j:. 



directed by the Pharmacopoeia is the so-called absorbent cotton, prepared 

 by freeing the filaments from impurities and fatty matter. 



Cotton-root bark contains, in addition to starch, glucose, and other 

 common vegetable constituents, a resinous body whose exact character is 

 as yet not fully established, but to which the medicinal virtues of the drug 

 are attributed. 



Preparations. — Of cotton-root bark : Extractum gossypii radicis fluidum 

 — fluid extract of cotton i-oot. Of cotton : Pyroxylinum — pyroxylin {gun- 

 cotton). — United States Pharmacopoeia. 



lledical Projjerties and Uses. — Cotton root was introduced to profes- 

 sional notice as a specific uterine tonic after having long been used among 

 the negroes of the Southern States as an abortifacient. Its action upon 

 the uterus is similar to that of ergot, and it is used instead of the latter in 

 cases of uterine inertia during parturition, and in amenorrhcea, dysmen- 

 orrhoea, and scanty menstruation. Whether its action upon the system 

 at large be also similar to that of ergot is unknown but worthy of inves- 

 tigation, f (3 iJ;' ,: ■ .. 



The fact that the bark of cotton root should be possessed of such active 

 properties is an interesting and suggestive one, for it aftbrds the only in- 

 stance of specific virtues attributed to a plant of the order malvacece. It 

 will be noted that it is only the bark of the root that possesses these prop- 

 erties, all other parts of the j)lant partaking of the bland character of the 

 order, the seeds especially — which not unfrequentl}' possess the most 

 active principles of plants — in this instance yielding a bland oil which 

 is largely used as an adulterant of olive oil. Now in an order of plants 

 of such strongly marked characteristics as the malvaceoe, the discovery of 

 striking propei'ties in any individual should stimulate investigation of 

 other related individuals, for it may reasonably be assumed that investi- 

 gation which starts with a rational clue will be more fruitful in results 

 than if conducted entirely in a haphazard manner. 



LINACE/E. 



Character of the Order. — Herbs, with entire, alternate, opposite or verti- 

 cillate, exstipulate leaves, and regular, symmetrical, hypogynous flowers. 

 Sepals 3 to 5, imbricate. Petals 3 to 5, convolute in the bud. Stamens 

 ?> to 5, usually with intermediate abortive ones, united into a short tube at 

 the base. Pod having twice as many cells as there are styles, each 1-seeded. 



A small order, represented in North America by the genus Linum, com- 

 prising no indigenous species of medicinal or economic importance. The 

 species described below, though introduced, has been under cultivation so 

 long that it requires brief notice. 



