N. 0. MALVACEiE. 189 



acuminate. Stipules ovate-lanceolate, entire or slightly toothed. 

 Peduncles shorter than the petiole. Bractcoles not divided 

 below the middle, equalling the capsule, sometimes, entire or 

 nearly so. Calyx truncate or obtusely crenulate, much shorter 

 than the bracteoles. Petals spreading, ovate or crenulate. 

 Flowers yellow, with a purple centre, rarely wholly yellow or 

 white or purple. Capsule ovate, globose, mucronate, 3-5-valved. 

 Seeds 5-7 in each cell, ovoid. Cotton white, brown, rarely 

 yellowish, overlaying a greenish or greyish down. I have 

 a fabric, a coat made out of cloth, turned out at the Thana Jail 

 (Konkan), nearly twenty years ago out of the fawn-coloured 

 cotton-fibre found on some plants in the Jail gardens, unex- 

 pectedly yielding the fawn-coloured cotton. It is unknown 

 whence the seed of such plants came (K. R. Kirtikar). 



Parts used : — The bark, seeds, leaves, flowers and root-bark. 



Uses : — The Eastern physicians consider all parts of the 

 cotton plant to be hot and moist ; a syrup of the flowers is 

 prescribed in hypochondriasis, on account of its stimulating and 

 exhilarant effect ; a poultice of them is applied to burns and 

 scalds. Burnt cotton is applied to sores and wounds to promote 

 healthy granulation ; dropsical or paralysed limbs are wrapped in 

 cotton, after the application of a ginger plaster ; pounded cotton- 

 seed, mixed with ginger and water, is applied in orchitis. Cotton 

 is also used as a moxa, and the seeds as a laxative, expectorant, 

 and aphrodisiac. The juice of the leaves is considered a good 

 remedy in dysentery, and the leaves with oil are applied as a 

 plaster to gouty joints ; a hip-bath of the young leaves and 

 roots is recommended in uterine colic. 



The cotton- wool is applied to burns ; the seeds are said to 

 increase the secretion of milk, and are also said to be useful in 

 epilepsy, and as an antidote to snake-poison. The root is diu- 

 retic, emenagogue and demulcent, and the leaves in decoction 

 are tonic, and said to be used in fever and diarrhoea (Atkin- 

 son). 



In India, the cotton seeds are employed to procure abortion. 

 Cotton root-bark is officinal in the United States Pharmacopoeia, 



