190 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
also a fluid extract of bark ; it appears to have first attracted 
attention from being used by the female negroes to produce 
abortion. It acts like ergot upon the uterus, and is useful in 
dysmenorrhcea and suppression of the menses when produced 
by cold. A decoction of 4 ozs of the bark in 2 pints of water, 
boiled down to one pint, may be used in doses of 2 ounces every 
20 or 30 minutes, or the fluid extract may be prescribed in 
doses of from 30 to 60 minims. Cotton-seed tea is given in 
dysentery in America ; the seeds are also reputed to be galac- 
tagogue (Dymock). 
Compared with ergot, the root of the cotton-plant causes a 
more natural contraction of the uterus ; but the former drug 
appears to be the more active during parturition. Gossypium 
can be given with impunity. In gynaecological practice ergot 
cannot compare with gossypium, the rapidity of action is not 
so necessary, and the remedy can be given without any un- 
pleasant secondary or after-effects, as is frequently complained 
of during a prolonged course of ergot subcutaneously or per- 
ns." (I. M. O; November, 1884. pp. 334-5). 
The herbaceous part of Gossypium herbaccum contains 
much mucilage, and is used as a demulcent. 
Cotton-seeds have been employed in the Southern States 
of America with great asserted success in the treatment of 
intermittents. A pint of the seeds is boiled in a quart of water 
to a pint, and a teacupful of the decoction is given to the 
patient in bed, an hour or two before the expected return of 
the chill. (U. S. pispensatory). 
The seeds are considered a nervine tonic and are given 
in headache, etc. 
Cotton-seed is said to increase the secretion of milk, and 
cotton-seed oil is largely utilized for this reason in the feeding of 
cows. The reason of this physiological action, and the constituent 
of the seed which produces it, are not known. In order to apply 
this to women, attempts have been made to purify the seeds, and 
a preparation, bearing the name of lactagol, has been the outcome 
of these investigations. It is a fine white powder, having a not 
