N. O. MALVAOE/Ti:. 
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 tnoxa, 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 ar& 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, 
